The Great Escape
by IAintGotIdeas
Summary: Moxxie and Millie have had a close marriage for the past couple of months. Never would they be separated from each other since the start of their relationship. However, when I.M.P is forced to take drastic measures to solve a domestic crisis, the unimaginable happens, with Moxxie getting stuck in the living world. Can they pull him out in time?
1. The Assignment

It all started the same way it has always started for the last two years of his life, inside his run down apartment with his loving wife.

His eyes struggled to open, the buildup of mucus around his eyes were slowly wiped away by his arm, covered with a blue nightgown that went around the entirety of his body, with the exception of his bare feet. The covers were stacked on him like football players on a fumbled ball.

It was a December morning, so the couple preferred to keep the bed as warm as possible for the entirety of the season. The warm lights and the extended night skies gave the two demons an excuse to do nothing but spoon and rest in their spare time. Occasionally, it would also lead to just a little more.

Last night, he had an exhilarating end to his day. He burned himself out with passionate thrusts and turns, wrapping his soul around his gal, his one and only, his other. She laid there asleep, fully clothed but not as insulated as her early bird partner. The digital clock's red light burned 4:30AM through the dark room. Judging from their past experiences, she was not expected to wake up for another three hours.

It was a work day, and they weren't expected to carpool to I.M.P Headquarters until 8:45AM, but Moxxie was a rare breed.

With initiative, he had gone through his morning routine. He brushed and flossed his teeth, got himself dressed with the exception of his dark coat, which was hung on the rack next to the front door. There were a couple of muffins in the cake stand for Moxxie to eat, and he didn't want to risk getting out of his comfort zone. He knew that it was a true oddity of a breakfast, but it has worked for him thus far.

As expected, Millie did not enter the living room until 8AM. She had spent a lot of time getting her quirky outfit on and doing her makeup. When she came in, she saw her husband placing his finished scrambled eggs onto a plate, along with two strips of bacon, and two sausage links.

Contrary to his droll muffin, Moxxie would always go all out for his love. Everything was set for her, including her morning coffee.

Millie flashed a grin that extended from cheek to cheek, "Good morning sweetie!"

"Good morning honey!"

The two paced towards each other and embraced. Shortly after, they gave each other a peck on the lips. Millie then sat herself down and began utilizing her fork. Moxxie followed hastily.

The wife was the first to break the silence. "So, about last night..."

The two laughed in their own casual manner, with Millie even snorting a little.

Moxxie replied with a snicker, "Wow, there really was no other way to celebrate our 200th contract together. I can't complain."

"Of course not! It was my favorite rom-com up there! I'm glad we had the chance to watch it."

Millie misses the bigger picture, and references the movie that they had watched prior to their private time.

"Oh, honey, we're talking about the movie?"

The two laughed again, even louder. Moxxie continued.

"So, I know that we've been busting our...butts off lately, but I spoke with Blitzø yesterday. It doesn't seem like there is anything left for us to do for the remainder of the year. And that's good, because I was already thinking about getting a head-start on our next fiscal ye—"

"Awh! Poor Blitzø...Is he doing okay?"

Moxxie began playing with his fingers, "Actually, Mills, he took it pretty well. We did complete a lot of assignments over the fall, and he seems satisfied with the company's output this year. We definitely improved from before."

Millie sighed in relief and resumed picking at her food, "Alrighty, it's just that...you know how he can be whenever we are falling behind." She began chewing her eggs and proceeded to wipe her mouth with a napkin.

"We'll be fine. He'll be fine, especially."

The two paused. The couple was fully aware that they were completely snubbing another member of the team. The hellhound receptionist, Loona.

"And the damn dog? For Christmas, I wish that Santa drags her ass back to the pound." Millie was visibly annoyed that the two had began beefing with the alleged flesh and blood of their boss, his adopted daughter/pet. Since their intense confrontation, which could have been a complete bloodshed had they not been so rudely interrupted by their underage target, Millie has dreaded the moments that she has to even interact with the hound.

They both sat in silence.

"Yep, f-f-forget about her. All we have to do is show up, and hopefully our co-workers will be much more tolerable near the end of the year", Moxxie assured, nearly letting out a swear in front of his wife. Although Millie was one of the most open-minded partners in all of hell, Moxxie still did not like swearing in front of his wife, treating it as an ugly quality that disrupts his professional lifestyle.

Millie gave a smug look, and raised an eyebrow, teasing her husband. Moxxie's cheeks flashed red.

"Well, I should go start the car. Don't rush yourself, my dear." Moxxie raised himself off the chair in the dining table and walked out with the keys in his hand.

—-

"Alright, team. As you all may have heard, we are going to do a little someone I'd like to call, "Jack Shit Esq.", because we are officially starting the day with no assignments!"

Loona got off her phone and looked in the direction of the imp boss, proceeding to function at maximum sarcasm power, "Does this mean I can go home?"

"Oh Loonie, you're too precious. No. We still have the rest of this year to come up with a way to improve not only our business, but our services. We can increase the efficiency of our dirty work by 200%!" Blitzø's optimistic eyes turned glittery, as he waved his hands around.

"Well then, what do you recommend we do, sir?" Moxxie had his arms crossed and his head cocked forward. His tone has always been assertive towards his boss, as he has little to no faith for him.

"Now, you all may see me as a slacker, a phony, a voiceless wiseass, a clown, a scumbag, a skip-skap, a scallywag, a heffer, a hee-haw, and a hoolie hoo..." As Blitzo continued rambling on, the entirety of the room all had different expressions. Moxxie groaned under his breath, Loona rolled her eyes as she focused her attention back on her phone screen, and Millie enthusiastically shook her head in agreement, mistakenly verifying the accusations held against her own boss.

"...however, unlike all of you, I bust my ass to ensure that I.M.P has the strongest network of notorious thugs, nobility and crime lords with handsome rewards. We have a weapons crisis on our hands, and I went all around the wicked depths of hell to solve this."

Moxxie interrupted, "Well, did you solve it?"

Blitzø conceded and looked down in disappointment, "I didn't solve it. I didn't even get a single bullet for our .223s. However, I have a plan that has so little risk and is very rewarding, that there is no sign of a chance of failure here!"

Millie jumped in, "Yay! What is the plan, chief?"

"We infiltrate a military base from the living world and take the ammo and guns there!"

The entire table was silent. Loona looked up in disgust, Moxxie squinted so hard and raised his arms so high that his muscles began shaking as a result of his immense disappointment, and Millie's eyes replicated his boss's glitter, rejoicing at the announcement.

Moxxie then raised from his seat and slammed his fists down, "Are you joking me, sir? This is your grandiose plan that is going to solve all our problems? This is the joke of a plan that is going to solve this so called-crisis?"

"You know it, big boy."

"And you tell us this now the day after you assured us that there are no more assignments to solve?"

"Hey hey hey! I did not tell a single goddamn lie in that conversation! This here is not an assignment. Consider it a...ahm...business picnic. Yes, we are doing this solely for business, BUT, it'll be fun!"

"We're seriously running out on ammo?"

"Yeah, I was as shocked as you too, but I didn't have the heart to tell you guys around this time of year...so..."

"So, why now, huh!? Why the sudden change of heart, sir?"

"Because that gas meter is a tick away from E. I cannot spare you all the despair any longer. This is now or never."

"Oh for crying out lou—"

Blitzo proceeded to walk heavily towards Moxxie, raising his finger at him and yelling at him inches from his face.

"Let's get one thing straight, bucko, I make the FUCKING rules here, alright? You like your generic ass boss-employee relationship so much? Then you are going to straighten up, shut your fat FUCKING mouth, and you are going to fetch me my ammo like a good boy, or you can kiss my ass as I hand you that goddamn pink slip. You want that pink slip, Mox ol' buddy? YOU WANT THAT MOTHERFUCKING PINK SLIP?

Moxxie gave a loud sigh, and despite his pride in his craft, his profession, and his progression in making a family of his own in the most oppressive place in hell, he stood down and conceded to the man in charge.

"No, sir."

Blitzo immediately changed his expression to one of immense joy and jolly. The sparkle in his eye returned. "Alrightio! We're coolio, and ready to go! Get whatever you can, because if we don't succeed in this "picnic", we won't live to tell the tale! I got clients depending on my management to success!"

From the beginning of his day to his public humiliation, Moxxie was prideful in his exceptional qualities, his exceptional routine, and his exceptional wife who he would always make exceptional love to. He was not the badass, Rain Man character that he always wanted to be. His knowledge was his weakness, and the arrogance stemming from said knowledge got the better of him.

Millie turned to her side and began stroking Moxxie's hairs. "I'm sorry sweetie, I really am. But this is the right thing for us to do. We'll be out in a jiff."

We'll be out in a jiff

Those were the words that would haunt him for a long time.


	2. His Capture

Chapter 2: His Capture

"There there, sweetie. Get it all out of your system." Millie laid her hand on Moxxie's back, comforting him at his time of need.

The weapons specialist was down on his knees, leaning over the toilet and retching with all of his might.

Episodes of anxiety were not uncommon for her husband, but Millie was very uncomfortable. His anxiety had not been as severe prior to today, but this was different. They were hours away from what felt like certain death. On top of that, it was the first time in all of his professional career that his job had been threatened by his boss. Moxxie was always one to be vocal when it came to mismanagement or ridiculous ideas, and when Blitzo unexpectedly became assertive, it shocked him to his core. So much so, that he was now vomiting in the restroom with his own wife overseeing the entire thing. He does not know why he continued to tolerate his boss' bullshit. He was the one who would file his company's finances, the one who would clean the room before every meeting, the one who trained his co-workers for a wide variety of weapons. Of all the weapons that he had utilized as a weapons specialist, he always felt that his voice was his strongest weapon.

That was not the case here.

"Come on, Mox, you can't keep beating yourself up like this. You need to-hey sweetie, look at me." She put her hands on his red cheeks and turned his head to her own direction. "Look, I know that it may seem unlikely that we can succeed in infiltrating such a big bad place, but like my Mama once told me, 'you may not be able to walk alone, but with company, you both can surely run', and I promise ya' that as long as we're all together, we'll be able to kick some ass, baby! Me and you is all it takes!"

Moxxie gulped and proceeded to smile. He leaned over for a kiss.

Millie instantly turned her head with a reluctant expression. "ahm...now might not seem like a good time, sweetie", referencing the vomit that had just came out of Moxxie's mouth.

"Oh shoot, sorry."

"Heh, you always were my cutie pie." Millie held Moxxie by his chin and raised it up to her.

"And you always were my precious rock." They both shared a smile.

"I fucking love you."

—-

Back in his office, Blitzo was getting ready for today. He had taken out a variety of things that he had saved for special occassions. He wanted to ensure that he would walk out today with his demonic soul still intact.

"Loona, do you think this utility belt makes my ass look fat?" The imp bent down, hitting Loona with a full moon.

"Jesus Christ, look at you. Hey, I don't know if this is relevant or anything, but what the fuck is your problem?"

Blitzo instantly raised himself up and turned to Loona, with his arms crossed and his body straighted up. "Excuse me, missy?"

"You really think that you guys are just going to infiltrate a fucking military base with ease? These guys are disciplined to kill. What in Satan's blue hell do you have that the military doesn't have?"

"Well, we still have a few more doodads that triumphs living technology. For example, did you know that this red cherry in my hand isn't actually a cherry? It's an unholy hand grenade compressed into a small spherical capsule."

"And why not just go to a gun range, kill the fuckers there, and take the guns and ammo from there?"

"Way ahead of you, Loona. Recently, I heard a terrible truth that countries around the living world have decided to outlaw the commerce of assault weapons."

"What? What sick fuck passed that law?"

"Something called a United Nations. They all unanimously voted in favor of restriction."

"Holy shit. They seem to be very co-operative."

"They sure do, sweetheart."

Loona's ears perked up. "Wait, what about the black market?"

"What about it? You're talking to a guy who has tried as hard as he can to solve his company's weapons crisis. The damn mercenaries and gangs involved in the turf war already thought way ahead of us and infiltrated many strongholds."

"Damn."

Blitzo unbuckled his utility belt. "Yeah. It was either go with this batshit crazy plan, or fuck Stolas, and you know pretty well that I'd rather challenge a literal military base than have another round with the jerk off."

Loona grinned. "Speaking of which, someone completely random and unrelated to this conversation left a voicemail."

Blitzo ran to his desk. "Really!? Who?"

He picked up his new phone, and when he read "Creepy Mouth" within the notifications of his lock screen, he grunted heavily.

"What the hell are you trying to say, Loon?"

Loona stomped her way towards her boss, "I'm telling you to get your shit together, and stop putting your personal interests ahead of the company. You go with this, and someone is going to die. We can't afford to lose someone in the workplace. This company is already shit as it is."

Blitzo stood in silence was in shock. "Woah, Loona, that was really fucking weird of you. Since when did you start giving a toot and half a shit about the company?"

Loona looked dumbfounded, and crossed her arms. "Because I like my desk, and if you take the one thing that I like in this shithole of a city, then goddamnit, you are going to get your shit kicked in."

"Hmm, okay then. Well, let me give it a shot."

—-

Stolas was in the middle of a swimming lap. He did not like swimming in particular, but he was trying hard to find a way to exercise without having to use the workout room. He didn't trust machines, but his wife insisted that they install one. The indoor pool was all covered in white with fluorescent lights and skylight surrounding the area. There was also some bushes surrounding the place to tie the minimalist modernism of the room together.

There was a sudden burst of excitement in the room, as the phone laid on a small wooden stool right next to the pool began ringing.

"Hello, who may this be?"

"Hey listen, Stola—"

"Blitzy! Oh, my little baby killer boy! How's the business coming along?"

"Stop being an asshole. Tell me why this is so important to you."

"Well, you have been rather unsuccessful in my previous clients, and there sure were a lot of them. So many heads, without a single drop of blood, can you believe it?

"I—"

"Don't answer that, Blitzy-poo, you should know, you were the one who missed the first and only shot."

"Ugh, goddamn you. But why? Why this?"

"I have a lot to settle. I would rather remind you of your own policy and respond to your question with, 'no questions'."

"So you send over your goons to take our shit and expect me to carry out this whole request of yours without any explanation?"

A long pause followed. "Yes."

"You dumbass. Wouldn't you think that it would be a lot easier if you left us with our heat?"

"Ah, Blitzy, you seem to misunderstand. I am your biggest client. Actually, scratch that, I am the only thing making you money. This 'Imp City' that you are so prideful about does not possess the capital that other regions in the depths of hell have. I am the one person keeping you and your company afloat, and if you want to continue living this fabulous, violent dream of yours, then you will have to dance for me, my toy."

"Don't you fucking call me your t—"

"The other offer is always up in the air. My candles and my bed will always be ready for you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a couple more swimming laps to finish. See you soo—"

Blitzo beat Stolas to it and hung up the phone.

—-

"No wait, put the candle there. It's a little off."

Blitzo walked in on Moxxie and Millie preparing the portal to the living world. Shortly after the imp boss introduced himself, Moxxie shot him a nasty look and went back to focusing on organizing the portal.

"Hey Mox, can you come here for a second? Yeah, come outside."

Moxxie groaned and raised himself up. Millie looked up in worry, believing that the confrontation between Blitzo and Moxxie was only getting started this morning.

The two men left the room, with Blitzo using his tail to shut the door, to the surprise of Moxxie.

"Look, I don't want there to be any tension anymore." Blitzo's grin faded into an empathetic frown. "You understand that I am just as frustrated as you are. Years of hard work, my hard work, your hard work, Millie's hard work, will go down the shitter if we don't go through with this. There's a lot to take in, I know. We're going to be far outnumbered, and if we're caught, we'll put the reputation of not only I.M.P in danger, but also Imp City's. I know you and your wife were looking forward to the holidays..."

Moxxie looked down in gloom. The thought of he and his wife having to go through such a dangerous and high risk task before what could possibly be the best time of their year felt defeating for him.

"...and if we pull through, then I promise that you both will come home with heavier checks. You can bet on that."

Moxxie's tail straightened out.

"Shit! You really mean it, sir?"

"Yep, and if you want, you guys can add a couple more days to your vacation. Haha. That'll give you guys enough time to continue—"

Millie opened the door, surprising the two as they made way for her.

"She's ready, boys!"

—-

The trio looked down at what could potentially be their doom. If done right, the "picnic" will be very rewarding for all three members. However, one single mistake, and all of them could potentially lose their lives.

"Now listen here, gang, we have had our years. I remember the first day all three of us came together. Moxxie, you were merely a ruthless killer with a hard on for the new girl..."

Moxxie blushed and put her hand on Millie's shoulder. They both exchanged another smile.

"...and Millie, you were hungrier for blood than the average cannibal. You were the bloodthirsty savage that you are today. And me? I was the guy with the pent up anger beating the living shit out of anybody who reminded me of my dad. And everybody reminded me of my dad."

The couple shared a short chuckle.

"Now, we must remember where we came from, how we met, and how we came so far. As much as Moxxie is opposed to the idea, we are all a family, and we are going to tackle this shit head on. Are you with me, team?"

"Yes, sir!", said Moxxie.

"Motherfuckin' A!", said a rather optimistic Millie.

Alright, let's do this.

All three joined hands, and proceeded to dive into the portal.

The room was in complete silence.

—-

All three assassins jumped out of the portal in sync. No trip ups or anything. Their determination prevented them from even thinking of screwing up.

The trio arrived at a forest area that appeared to isolate the military base. The base itself was fortified by a series of concrete slabs that appeared to be seven feet thick, with electrocuting wire at the very top. From outside, they could see two towering rectangular buildings with flat tops. They were as wide as their height. There were four observation towers for each corner. The strangest part, however, is that despite the towers being put all over the base, there was no presence in any of them. It was almost as if the base itself was deserted.

Blitzo took a step and crossed his arms. "Huh, odd. I could have sworn this place came with extra death, but the living seem to be back to their lunch break antic bullshit."

Moxxie took three steps towards the wall. "Sir, this does not look like any traditional military base. It's too small to be any sort of base, and if so, then it is rather primitive."

Millie followed. "Yeah, don't you guys find it weird that there's no separate entrance into the walls? Wait, what's that over there?"

Millie pointed at a black line that connected from tower to tower diagonally. "Well golly, looks like this will be a breeze."

Moxxie pointed to his boss. "Hey Blitzo, don't forget about you-know-what. Easy or not, you put that out there and I'm not going to turn it down."

"No, no, don't worry. A promise is a promise. Now get the grappling hook."

—-

They were all inside the compact base. There were trees, shrubbery, and a few tents along the way. There were even some abandoned cars for whatever reason. The entire place had a feeling of dread within. There were squeaks from the tents and water dripping from all kinds of places. Wherever they were, it seemed like it was low maintenance. Very unusual for a military base. The three imp demons were walking around and had crossed the dead center position. They were confident that nobody was detecting them thus far. After a long period of silence, Blitzo decided to speak up.

"Well fuck me, this will actually be a piece of cake. All we have to do is find the armory, load up a sack, and we will be on our way, with my business still intact."

Millie gave a small sigh, disappointed with the fact that she won't have the opportunity to mutilate anybody.

Moxxie put her arm around her as they continued walking. "Don't you worry your little head, my muffin. When we get back home, we'll have a lovely stroll to the ongoing turf war and maybe play for an hour or two." He began playfully tagging her cheek, as she giggled and flashed a large grin.

"That would be amazing, my love."

Blitzo looked behind him and even cracked a slight smile. "Alright, love birds, we're here, and look, the door is sealed shut. This looks like a job for..."

GASP!

Millie gasped in shock and proceeded to cheerfully skip towards the locked door. She pulled a stick of dynamite from her pocket and proceeded to light it. She placed it right next to the door as the three demons took a side and covered their ears and closed their eyes.

BOOM!

"Hell yes, that is my favorite part!"

They all stepped inside, with Moxxie holding the bag out. There were a wide variety of guns in separate lockers, along with a couple of boxes of ammo right underneath. Blitzo began taking each gun one by one alongside Millie, who was humming a little song to herself that she and Moxxie really enjoyed. They were both glad that the day was not going to be as difficult as they thought it would. This was possibly going to be the last work-related thing that they would have to do all year, and so far, it has been eventless, much to their happiness. For once, Moxxie felt like he could breathe easy for a bit more. He was going to complete this easy job and receive a great reward in return for it. And not only that, but he will have days and days of alone time with his wife, hopefully with all the blinds off and the warm lights on. He was already daydreaming about the hot cocoa that they would be making, the cookies that Millie would bake late at night for them to enjoy. And the sex, of course, but that was obviously not as important to him. He was just relieved that he will live to spend a lot more time with his soulmate.

While he crammed all these thoughts into his head, Millie put the last box of ammo inside, and kissed him on the cheek.

"We're all set, cutie! Let's get out of here!"

They all stepped outside, with Moxxie boasting the large sack over his shoulder. He never felt prouder to scavenge weapons.

That's when it all began.

RATTATATATATATATAATATATATATATA

The sound of rapid fire shooting quickly alerted the team, as they began to disperse and settle behind the side of one of the concrete buildings.

Moxxie kicked a rock. "Damnit! Are you okay, Mills?"

"Yeah babe, I'm okay."

"Gods sakes, I count four gunmen from those shots. Four different directions. We may be in trouble.

Blitzo shrieked and took out a gun and aggressively loaded it up. "FUCK! FUCK FUCK FUCK! THIS IS THE LAST FUCKING TIME, STOLAS!"

There was a pause.

Moxxie dropped the sack, and began stomping his way towards his boss. His eyes were as cold as steel, and his sharp teeth began showing. He looked vicious and ready to kill.

Moxxie put his finger at his superior's chest. "What. Was. That?"

"Um, ahm, uhhhh, I honestly don't know why I said that, Mox, I uhhh—"

And Moxxie exploded.

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? I THOUGHT YOUR BITCH ASS SAID YOU WERE SENDING ME AND MY FUCKING WIFE FOR SOMETHING THAT ISN'T BUSINESS RELATED! NOW YOU ARE GOING TO FUCKING TELL ME THAT WE ARE SOLELY DOING THIS BECAUSE OF STOLAS? WHERE THE FUCK IS OUR AMMO? WHERE THE FUCK ARE THE GUNS?"

"Mox..."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP AND ANSWER MY QUESTION YOU SONUVA BITCH!"

"H-h-he took everything..."

"FUUUUUUUUCCCCKKKK!" Moxxie grabbed one of the Remingtons and kicked it to a distance, but not one that would be too far to reach.

Millie was absolutely shook by Moxxie's reaction to the news. She was shocked herself, but one more minute of this, and Moxxie is sure to kill himself with his pent up anger.

She was Blitzo's last line of defense. Right now, the gunmen were the least of their worries.

"Moxxie, please! Don't make a big deal out o—"

Moxxie's brain completely snapped in two. Now, nothing was safe, not even his marriage.

"AND YOU! DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE DEFEND THIS PATHETIC PIECE OF SHIT! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU TEAMING WITH THIS BASTARD AND TAKING HIS SIDE! I DON'T GIVE A FUCK IF HE IS OUR BOSS, EITHER YOU TAKE MY SIDE FOR ONCE AT WORK OR YOU CAN SIT THE FUCK DOWN!"

Millie gasped louder than she ever did. Tears began streaming down her eyes.

"M-M-M-Mox, why are you saying this!?" She was fighting back her tears.

"BECAUSE IM DONE! IM DONE WITH THIS BULLSHIT! IM DONE WITH HIM, IM DONE WITH YOU BEING MY ENEMY, IM FUCKNG THROUGH WITH IT! I DONT GIVE A SHIT WHERE YOU STAND, IM WALKING THE FUCK OUT OF HERE, WITH OR WITHOUT YOU!"

She was broken by her statements and began sobbing quietly.

"Oh, now look WHAT YOU HAVE FUCKING DONE, BLITZO! ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH YOURSELF, YOU PIECE OF SHIT! WE ARE COMPLETELY FUCKED THANKS TO YOU! THANK YOU BLITZO! THANK YOU! YOU MOTHERFU—"

Moxxie wasn't looking.

He stepped right into their line of vision and doomed himself.

RATTATATATATATATAATATATATATATA

The bullets absolutely pelted Moxxie. Twelve bullets going through his body, as the imp demon spazzes out and falls onto the floor in a bloody mess.

Millie turned back to her side and was horrified by the sight of her wasted husband.

"MOOOXXXIEEEEEE!"

She began hysterically crying at a bloodcurdling volume.

Blitzo's hands covered his mouth. He couldn't believe what just happened. Dying in hell is never something that would concern them. Moxxie and Millie used to spend a lot of time dying together at the local turf wars and proceed to respawn in Hell for the next round.

However, dying in the living world as a native imp means dying for good.

And Moxxie's life was fading away.

"Fuck!"

Blitzo whipped out his grappling hook and quickly grabbed Millie by her waist. He shot for a tree trunk outside of the base.

He closed his eyes as Millie rebelliously tried to escape from her boss's clutches. "NO! NO! NOOOOOO!"

—-

They went through the portal and faceplanted onto the wall.

Blitzo sighed, and overhears Millie crying some more.

"Millie, I—"

He was interrupted by louder sobbing. This was bad. Millie proceeded to smother her face onto the floor. Her eyes are red, her mascara is scattered all around her face, and her hands shake uncontrollably.

"MY BABY!"

—-

Moxxie groaned. He was able to see it all. The many regrets in his life. From growing up as a disciplined imp who had to overcome the obstacles and limitations that came with his race to marrying the love of his life. He can't believe it. The last time he talked with his wife will stem from verbal abuse and ballistic anger and tears.

He felt he deserved to die. After everything she has done for her.

He whispered under his breath.

"F-f-fuck..."

Then began crying to himself. He didn't have enough power to lose it, but his tears were sorrowful.

"M-M-M-M-Milli—-"

Moxxie interrupted himself by coughing up his own blood.

He was not ready to die.

The last thing he would see that day were four silhouettes looking down on him.

"Take the ol' fucker."

He was not going to die.


	3. Her Grief

Chapter 3: Her Grief

Loona, as introverted and ferocious as she was, wrapped her arms around Millie with a blanket around the latter. Millie was still sobbing, coughing violently and even choking on her own.

"There, there, let it all out."

Millie was an emotional wreck. She couldn't handle being separated from Moxxie for an hour, let alone eight.

The entire crew settled in Moxxie and Millie's apartment to support the muscle of the team, and to make sense of their major loss in Moxxie. Blitzo wandered around the living room with his hands clasped together, passing through and observing various photographs of the couple and them minding their own business on the happiest of places. From the two sharing a drink at a vintage diner, to them holding hands and circling around an ice rink on their skates, it was a lot of memories for a marriage between assassin and assassin. They were cold blooded killers, but anybody in Hell can tell you that there is nothing wrong with doing your job. Those who came from the living world may not relate to these sentiments, but to the entirety of I.M.P, the ones who were born and raised in Hell, it was an honorable job.

Blitzo always dreamt of the day that he would be formally invited to the apartment that he has constantly peeked inside of since the couple's marriage.

But not like this.

It made sense that the stubborn half of the couple would have to be dead in order for Blitzo to even step foot inside. However, he was well aware that all this was on him. Had he done more to boost his business, he wouldn't have to desperately fight for their weapons.

Speaking of which...

—-

RINGRINGRINGRINGRING

Stolas picked up the phone next to him. He was in the middle of reading a book in bed with a glass of water next to him. Since his first "negotiation" with Blitzo, he has accustomed to sleeping alone for a rather long time.

"Hello? To who am I speaking to?"

"Me, asshole." Blitzo was calling from the bathroom. Oddly, Blitzo had a calmer tone than ever before. However, this was not a good sign for Stolas.

Stolas dropped the formality and smiled. "Ah. I assume that you all have carried out the job with your lives intact. Very well, then. I will transfer the paymen—"

"No, that's not it."

"...I'm sorry? What are you talking about, Blitzy?"

"I lost a man."

There was silence on the other line, almost as if someone dropped the needle on the conversation.

Stolas groaned, "Oh, fuck me."

"Yeah, it really fucking sucks. Stolas, I'm afraid that this is another failed assignment. I'm sorry."

Stolas began thinking to himself and let out a small "Ah", as if a lightbulb lit up above his head.

"Don't you worry, sweetcheeks! if it helps, I can refer you to a wide variety of weapon specialists for hire. Recently I came across this ma—"

"Stolas..."

"Huh?"

Blitzo shook his head and placed his fingers on his forehead. "That's not what we want. At least for now. It would be inappropriate as fuck."

"Ah, right. The fellow has a wife. They both work for you, correct."

"Y-yes."

"I see. Well, then I can't help you here. And no, not even that red dick of yours is enough to woo such a sophisticated creature. Hey Blitzy..."

The fact that Stolas would nullify the unspeakable offer was very worrisome for Blitzo.

"Y-y-yes?"

"I'm afraid this is the last time I will be calling as one of your clients, my precious."

The news hit Blitzo like a heat wave. It was bad enough that he lost Moxxie. Now it looked like he was going to lose the last thing keeping the company together. He instantly got on his knees and put all of his efforts in securing the job of his dreams.

"Stolas...please...I am on my fucking knees here, man, help me out! I will do your kinky shit. Hell, I can be your sex slave for as long as you want! Just PLEASE let me have this, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!"

There was a small period of silence.

Then the line died.

Stolas hung up.

—-

ONE WEEK LATER-

A digital clock went off at 4:00AM. There was static, and the radio began playing.

I just wanna let go, freefall

I don't wanna not trust no one

I just wanna let go, freefall

Catch me, baby, here I come (Oh)

Catch me, baby, here I come (Oh)

Catch me, baby, here I come (Oh)

Oh-oh, catch me baby, here I come

The song played at ambient volume. However, it was more than enough for Millie to wake up.

There were bottles and cigarettes scattered all around whatever was left of the sheets. It was difficult to sleep underneath something with so many holes in it, but Millie is trying desperately to make it work.

She completely lost track of where her clothes had went last night, so she was feeling the breeze all over. Occasionally, she would wake up in the middle of the night and try to put herself to sleep as quick as possible. This either involved chugging another bottle from the mini fridge, or getting herself to 'climax' in a certain way. Regardless, both would usually do the trick.

Without looking, she tossed one of the bottles at the clock, and caused it to fall down, dragging the plug along with it and disconnecting it.

Millie reluctantly raised herself up and proceeded to rub her eyes. Once she realized that it was 4AM, she grabbed a velvet robe that was left on the nightstand and put it on.

She crossed her fingers. "Come on, please, PLEASE."

Fortunately for her, there was still half a pack of cigarettes in one of the pockets.

"Scooooreeee." She was too tired to even put on happy face.

In an instant, she grabbed a cigarette from the pack and lit it up like nothing. As she began puffing, she walked out of the room and out through the backyard door across.

I.M.P City had little to no lights around this time. A lot of facilities and buildings were always unoccupied at 4AM, contrary to the bustling streets and burning lights from other places.

It didn't matter. She enjoyed the loneliness, and the absence of light. This was her life now. It was better to be left alone than to be hurt again.

However, watching her husband take bullet after bullet is the only thing on her mind. Like a broken record, it repeats nonstop, driving her to insanity.

And who wouldn't be driven nuts at a time like this? Not only did she lose her husband, but she had lost her job, along with everyone else. After the tragic events of the "infiltration", Blitzo had to put down his business, and sold whatever he could for a fallback. Unfortunately, Millie has not heard from him since.

The photos and the photo albums were still inside in full display. It was a horrible reminder of what she had lost in a span of nearly a month.

She really missed Moxxie.

In the kitchen, Millie had a variety of things set down for a hearty of breakfast. She had the flour, butter, milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, etc.

And of course, the key ingredients for making Millie Pancakes, two shots of Brandy and some vodka.

She was proud of her creation, and carried it to the coffee table by the TV. Along with her pancakes includes both bottles of Brandy and vodka. She wanted to see how far she can get for the day.

She had a framed photo of Moxxie smiling back at the camera next to her on the couch. It comforted her, because she felt that her husband was with her in spirit. She raised her vodka up high.

"To living another *belch* day!"

—-

Millie went outside with a casual pink jacket, a white top, and black sweats with white stripes coming down the sides. This was easily her favorite outfit to put on, and she had it on because today was a very special day.

She walked over to the west side of town, where things progressively got worse socially and economically. She was attracted by the explosions and gunshots, knowing very well that this was truly her home.

There was a towering man with a white jumpsuit along with a black ski mask and a brown fedora that completely went around the demon's head, outlining the head and the horns. As usual, many clients in the ongoing turf war prefer to keep their identities sealed, holding on to the living world's principles that exposure of one's identity would only make them vulnerable.

"Hello there, I'm guessing you're the 'top bitch' that is looking to secure a spot in our faction."

Millie suddenly grabbed a mace and swung it around, catching the client by surprise as he ducked underneath at the right time.

"Yeeeeeah, das' me, alright. Say, you got any blasters on ya'?"

"Careful now, dollface, you already struck once with those mace shenanigans, don't think I'm going to do you any favors here."

"Aww fuck, you really are no fun! Makes me wanna join someone else."

"Haw haw. You gonna yap that sweet little mouth or do I have to get a man to do the job?"

Silence.

Now she was pissed off.

Millie inhaled for a good amount of time, and kept herself under control.

"Alright then, watch this."

Millie turned around and shrieked towards ongoing war. Five imp demons took notice of the late entry and turned their attention to Millie.

Two began shooting towards the lady imp and one of them threw a baseball bat towards her. Millie dodges the bullets with a high jump and a corkscrew, and shortly after she lands, raises her arm and catches the bat as it almost overshoots her.

She tosses the bat directly towards one of the gunmen. It hits his gun, which shakes him up and causes them to indirectly shoot the other armed demon. Before he can turn around, Millie smashes his head open with the mace and takes the AR-57.

She aims low for one of the bystanders, shooting his kneecaps and immobilizes the thug. As he falls down, she aims for the head and pulls the trigger.

Behind her, one demon punches the gun out of her hands and smacks her across the face, with another grabbing Millie and trapping her in his arms.

The sadistic thug proceeds to grab the baseball bat and smash it over Millie's head, nearly knocking her unconscious in her blood. However, as he winds up for a second swing, Millie forcibly turns herself around and has the trapper thug taking the brunt of the baseball bat.

As the sadist is thrown off by his mistake, Millie shoots him in the groin, causing him to yelp and call for help, before getting his brains splattered by Millie's rifle.

The trapper tries to crawl away, but Millie gets a quick hold of the baseball bat and swings it across his head. He goes down on his back, giving her an opportunity to smash his brains open.

With each swing of the bat down to the thug's head, all Millie could think about is the craftiness and savagery that she and Moxxie shared. It was always her husband that would come through with the technical edge. However, never before has Millie been to such a strong start.

After brutalizing the thug's head to almost nothing, she recovers her mace and the rifle, with a spare behind her back from the other gunman.

She would continue on, throwing her melee weapons around and shooting with both semi-automatic rifles loaded. Half of the participants suffered through Millie's dual fire, and a good portion of people unfortunately suffered a beating upon their skulls by the mace.

Before Millie can continue any further, the client applauded at her vicious rampage. Her pink jacket was now red, her face was completely covered in blood, her patchy black hair was soaked in the blood, and multiple stains dispersed around her sweats and her tennis shoes.

"Alright, you did more than enough. That was just downright beautiful. Good job, welcome to the team."

All of a sudden, many identical men with white jumpsuits and ski masks came from out of the blue, surrounding Millie and causing her to drop her mace.

"Oh shit. Didn't expect so many of y'all, especially with matching uniforms."

"Don't worry. These are all purists. There's more on our side, just without the uniforms. Personally, I like your style. It's cute, really. I think you'll make it look good when you shed some blood out there."

Millie sighed at the mention of her "cute" style, but looked up in optimism. From there, she proceeded to take another cigarette and use her lighter.

"I'll make anything look good. I have enough blood to shed. Thank you, sir."

"Please, call me Baal."

—-

Millie came home to her mess of a house. It didn't help that there was a large NOTICE taped to the front of the door. However, she knew that she will get it over with very soon.

She grabbed a garbage bag from under the sink and proceed to feed it with all the bottles scattered around the floor. She opened up the blinds, picked up her clothes, and vacuumed thoroughly.

Her house looked good as new. Millie turned to another small portrait of Moxxie up on the wall, and proceeded to caress the photo.

"I did it, baby. You would have been so proud to see it...i-i-I just...really wish you were here..."

She then proceeded to break down in tears. She curled up into a ball on the kitchen floor and dug her knees into her face.

Luckily there was a whole lotta' beer in the fridge.

—-

RING!

Nine hours had passed. It was almost 5PM. The darkness had already swallowed the town. Millie had just got out of a small shower, and was a little confused by the ring of the doorbell.

And when she opened it, she almost broke the door knob.

"Hey-o, Millie Willie! It's me!"

Of course.

Blitzo finally came around.

—-

Blitzo was at ease by the beer cans scattered around the house. Millie had drank a lot, and that really made Blitzo uncomfortable and guilty.

"So hey, I just wanted to tell you this above everything else."

Millie took a big swig of a bottle. "Lay it on me."

Blitzo let out a deep breath, and sat himself down on the beer stained couch with his former co-worker. "Moxxie is...still alive."

She instantly spat out her drink and nearly crushed the pack of cigarettes in her hand.

"W-w-what!? Y-y-you're fucking with me, aren't you?"

Blitzo looked down towards the floor and began rubbing his hands together. "Oh man, you're gonna be so shocked. A long time ago, remember that Thanksgiving feast that we all ate? I brought the ham, and you two brought the turkey, remember?"

Millie chuckled but instantly felt a wave of distress come over her. "I can't say I remember."

"That was the Thanksgiving where Moxxie was on fire and we had to put him out. It was also the day Loona ate your guys' turkey and suddenly got food poisoning."

It all came together now for Millie. "Yeah...how'd that happen?"

"Irrelevant. Anyways, I never had the heart to warn you all, but as we ate, I hid a few miniature GPS trackers that Stolas was generous enough to give me inside the ham. Once you swallowed one, it would detach small legs to attach itself inside you, without any chance of digestion.

The drunken demon laughed then paused with a nasty look towards Blitzo. "You're serious, aren't you, sweetie? F-fuck it, keep em' comin'."

"Sorry. Anyways, I wanted to know where my little family were located at all times in case they bail on me from my plans or they go missing. Crazy shit, right? Well get this, I had lost the device that tracked all these little chips somewhere inside the headquarters, and as I cleaned out my office today, I found this little sneak here in my drawer."

"So you have a tracker that tracks people. Sir, you do realize that we already know Moxxie's location? What is that go—"

"AH! See! Here's the thing, these trackers are no ordinary trackers that you have seen before, because this here can monitor your heart, along with your blood type. The heart size is the same, the blood type is the same, and as for the heartbeat...

...52BPM."

Millie raised from the couch, and despite an inner voice joyfully yelling at the top of its lungs, she had her hand over her mouth and proceeded to tear up.

Blitzo noticed this instantly and put her arms around her tightly. "There there, we're going to do this. We have to go back there and get him."

"*sniff* Yeah, we're already set for this."

"Oh, by the way, Stolas stole the book to the portal back from me and now we have to retrieve it from his big stupid castle."

"WHAT!?"

—-

Loona kicked the can in front of her. She was walking down the sidewalks of downtown Imp City, retrieving some odd looks from locals who found her bloodied clothes very intimidating. The hellhound had helped herself to one of many imps who made the grave mistake of going to a public bathroom inside a public library. Ever since her departure from I.M.P, and Blitzo, she had decided to live at the bare minimum, wearing nothing but the same clothes on her back, carrying nothing but her charger and phone, and feasting on whatever is left isolated with a beating heart. She did not care.

She looked up and noticed the large horned building that used to be her home. For once, she was looking forward to coming back.

As she walked towards the front door, she grabbed a brick from the floor,,which actually came from her tearing down the walls and dropping the contents down from a high story a week prior.

She proceeded to throw it through one of the front windows and used her hand to shake off the remaining glass.

Because the elevator did not work (of course), she took the stairs all the way to the very top of the building. As she walked down the corridor, she looked for a very specific room.

She glanced at the open-door meeting room, where Blitzo has had his famous rants, and her, Moxxie, and Millie had their famous debates amongst each other.

She couldn't help but grin as she thought of her old co-workers, but that wasn't why she came.

Loona turned her eye towards the other door. The employee lounge. There, she opened the fridge and scavenged through a variety of things. Soda bottles, weed (?), battle axe (?), and much more. Loona never realized how much shit that she and everybody else try fitting inside the fridge. It was their only source of storage.

She settled on a Mason jar that still had various dried fruits left inside. As she dug to the very end, she noticed a stick note at the bottom, which felt weird knowing that such a note was not directed towards her anymore.

She read the note.

'Stresseating was not too bad, huh? Don't worry! Today is our day to shine! Love you, sweetie!'

It became a rare moment of clarity and guilt. All those hours of constant bickering between her and the couple that was madly in love with each other. Despite her previous hatred for them, Loona understood that they were always inseparable.

It only made sense that it took multiple bullets through the body to separate them.

Now she lost her appetite. Loona made her way to the meeting room, closing the blinds and laying on the table, stretching and making herself comfortable.

This was going to be her territory, and she was going to make sure of it.

...

...

"LOONIE!"

The hound shrieked in horror as she became rattled by the voice of her former owner. Blitzo and Millie stood by the entrance of the door. The boss ran up to the table and slid through, making himself parallel with his adopted pet.

"Thank God I found you! The hell were you these last couple of days!? You just left me like nothing ever happened!"

Loona groaned and sat up. She became monotone and blunt as possible. "You did the one thing I told you not to do, so I ditched your ass."

Blitzo paused. "Oh...fair enough."

"Sch'yeah."

Millie walked towards the table and crossed her arms. She looked slightly pissed to see Loona, as always, but she also looked reaffirming.

"Loona, good to see ya'."

"Millie...you look like shit."

"I'd say ya' do too, but that would be old news."

They both snickered at the comment, and once they realized that they reacted in sync, their smiles faded and had them in a standstill.

Loona was the first to break the silence. "Alright, weirdos, I only came here because I was still hungry. Three imps a day were not enough for me, and I started craving more day by day."

Blitzo gasped at the statement. "You've been eating other fucking imps? What the fuck, Loona!?"

She shrugged as high as her shoulders can, and raised her arms up in the air. "The fuck am I supposed to do? Dig through the trash like dozens of homeless here do!? They don't leave anything for me! If you really gave half a shit, then you would have given me an allowance before all this happened, you dickwit!" She shouted at the top of her lungs around the end.

"Well it's hard to put money in your mouth when I'm already paying off three fucking salaries and keeping this goddamn business afloat!"

Millie interrupted. "Ahem, you business is gone, sir. Actually, let me rephrase that. Your business is gone, Blitzo."

The boss muttered some curses under his breath and put his hand on his eyes. "Fucking hell, Millie. That wound's still sore." He continued to ignore the two, as they stared awkwardly towards Blitzo, gave each other a slight glance, and went back to staring awkwardly.

Blitzo was in awe. He turned around and saw the many seats before him, thinking back to his multiple meetings with his workers. He looked at a particular seat and sat himself down. Millie looked down and sighed at the sight of Blitzo looking around on Moxxie's old seat.

"This was his perspective. This is what he would see everyday. Sitting next to his wife, sitting closer to me, and sitting across...well...Loona. This was the view that one of Hell's finest and most vicious white collar workers shared."

Blitzo looked at the portraits before him. His photo with Loona, the poster to his old circus act along with his siblings, and Moxxie and Millie's vandalized wedding photo.

Millie looked next to her and noticed the wedding photo as well. She looked down in defeat, but Loona placed her paw on Millie's shoulder.

"As much as I hate the man, there's no way in three dimensional Hell that we are going to continue without him. We're getting him back."

Millie looked up and shook her head in determination. Afterwards, Blitzo's eyes flashed as he grew inspired by Loona's speech.

"I love that attitude Loonie, because we have a job for you..."

Loona extended her hand and signaled him to stop, putting him and Millie at a loss for words.

"Say no more. I'm in. Let's get the bastard back."

Millie pumped up her fist in excitement. "Fuck yes! Before we start, does anybody want some leftover Brandy?"


	4. A Therapy Session

The room was dark. There was nothing but a monitor, a bed, and a static TV sitting on top of a wooden table. There were portraits of landscapes, and two windows on Moxxie's side. It looked like a regular hospital room.

Moxxie was strapped in, and he had just woken up. It's been approximately seven days since the assignment, and his capture. He has never been separated from Hell for this long, let alone his Millie. He couldn't have imagined her grief at this time.

It's been a personal hell for Moxxie ever since, having to eat gruel while being checked on by the only person he has seen so far this week, the doctor.

He was a clean shaven man with black mid-sized hair and thick glasses. Every once in a while, he would check up on Moxxie to make sure that he stays alive.

The wounded demon made conversation from his presence. "Dr. Smith. Boy am I glad to see you. Are you gonna shove more things up my nose again?"

"Easy there, Moxxie. I am simply here to make sure you're doing okay."

The doctor brought nothing but a stool with him, looking to work therapy. He sat himself down and clasped his hands together.

This made Moxxie remember. "Say, I always forget to ask, isn't this kind of out of your range?"

"Psychology was my minor. I think I have a bit to bring to the table, as I have shown you. Let us start. How are you feeling?"

"Shitty."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Let—"

"No you're not."

"W-what was that?"

"You're not. You and those dickhead mercenaries outside this infirmary are merely using this opportunity to benefit yourselves. Once you extract more information on who I am, and what I am capable of, then you all will proceed to chop me up into ground beef. If you want me to even give you a chance of this, you need to tell me why you all decided to settle on this abandoned base."

"Understandable. You see, you were right, we were hired for a job. The way it worked was that someone would lure you and your crew here to retrieve a rather large amount of guns—"

"Shitload..."

"Whatever, but these unsupervised guns would be taken by your team. Once you all got out, the others would come out and make it rain fire and...you're not listening are you?"

Moxxie was too busy caressing the thick blanket that he was given and sniffing around it.

"You must love that blanket."

The demon looked up. "Sorry. It's not that. It's just that this blanket smells like lavender, and it takes me back home, sleeping in with my wife."

"Aah, you have a flame now, do you? Was she the one who couldn't stop crying over you?"

"Stop that."

The doctor remained monotone and sincere. "The one who broke down after seeing you get lit up like a Christmas tree?"

"Shut the fuck up!" Moxxie tried to get himself up and tried to reach for the doctor, but was held back by a realization that his lower waist was still held in shackles. He has tried to lunge at Dr. Smith on certain sessions, but always failed to catch him.

"Oh my, that was fast. Now that we have gotten your anger out of the way, let's go more in-depth with your job."

Moxxie threw himself back and crossed his arms. "Fine, I'll play your twisted games, doctor."

"You say your financial situation is underwhelming, so much so that you've expressed reluctance to start your own family. How does your realm factor in making a risky and consequential job so little important?"

"Because it really is Hell. You look around and everybody kills. The babies kill, the children kill, the adults kill, it is a straight line of death throughout the day. It is a place where nobody is a hero, where nobody has the initiative to end the chaos. We are all scavenging for that next bowl of soup, or that next warm shower. It really does not make me and my wife any more different from the rest of the realm, sir."

"You say you are native to this area, giving you the opportunity to live a full life like the living. Once you die, what happens?"

"You can't die in Hell. You live up to adulthood and stay in your prime for eternity. Dying in Hell means just remaining in Hell.

"And what if you die here?"

"Then I'm gone. There is no afterlife for me."

Dr. Smith continued writing down his notes. "Interesting. And what about your wife?"

"What about her?"

"Does she find it difficult to live in such a disheartening state that prevents you both from establishing a family of your own?"

Moxxie looked down and put his fist on his chin. "Always. I always wanted to leave I.M.P as soon as possible, because the company has been going down the shi—toilet for a while. It just doesn't put food on the table for us."

"This, wife of yours...She does not comply?"

"I dunno. Maybe she is too attached to the boss. For pillowtalk, I always reminded her that we can just run off to another job with much better wages."

"And how did this work out for you?"

Moxxie entered a separate space of his own, drifting off from the conversation and coming back down to his apartment in a flashback of his own.

—-

=FLASHBACK=

Moxxie laid on his side, facing away from a humming Millie, who was excited for a major assignment involving a mother of one. She was sharpening one of her axes, which was passed down from her mother, and making sure it was extra sharp for tomorrow. She turned her head to her husband.

"Hey Mox..."

Moxxie remained in his position and replied with a half-hearted tone. "Yes, my sweet?"

"Ya' don't think that we'll have to use any guns for this one, right?

The weapons specialist groaned. "Damn, I don't know. I really hope not."

Millie grew impatient and peaked over to her dormant husband. She was inches away from his face, so she started caressing his hair.

"What's the matter, baby? Is my Mox feeling sick again?"

Moxxie sighed. "No...it's just that...I have no idea what we are doing right now."

This statement threw her off. "W-what do you even mean?"

He sat up from the bed. "I don't understand why we still put up with Blitzo and Loona's bullshit. I mean, they are our only two co-workers, and they are the absolute worst.

Millie contested, "What are we supposed to do about it though? We've been in this company for years, and now you want to throw all that away? Now? Is that why you stole Blitzo's prized gun from him? To sabotage us?"

"Look, I know you're still mad about the whole 'me stealing and gifting you the boss' golden revolver' incident, but that is old new—"

"And I didn't even get use it, Mox! You had to sell it for money!"

"Millie, we are not going to survive if we keep slaving away here."

She then got a lot closer to his face.

"Why do you always do this? You always try to be so pessimistic about everything as an excuse to make everything in life around you perfect!"

"Really? I hope you realize how overly optimistic you are. You just think that we're going to be all okay in the long run. I've been on a sinking ship before, Mills, I know what a sinking ship looks like, and this company won't float."

Millie then backed away and made a hand motion that shoo'd away his opinion. "Oh, you care way too much about this! Why is it such a bother to you? Why now out of all the days that we have struggled?"

Moxxie gulped and hung his head low.

"That's what I thought. I'm sleeping on the cou—"

"Kids."

Millie turned her head. "What was that?"

"I want to have my kids with you, Millie."

She growled. "Oh, you think this is some kind of joke now? You think I'm going to let that sarcasm slid—"

He yelled, "It's not sarcasm, damnit!"

Silence.

"I...want to have kids. And I want to have them with you."

Millie was stunned. Moxxie got himself out of bed and walked over slowly to Millie.

"I know you're happy about these past few years, and I'm genuinely glad you are enjoying it, don't get me wrong. I just...don't think it'll be enough for us to start, you know?"

"Oh Moxxie..."

Moxxie looked at her and struck her with a pair of pouty eyes.

"...I'm sorry."

Millie smiled. "Don't be. I just didn't know the time has come to talk about it. Are ya' really ready for it, though?"

"I think so..."

They were silent again for a while, as Millie and Moxxie scratched their heads and avoided eye contact. Suddenly, Millie held Moxxie's cheeks together.

"I love you, Moxxie. So goddamn much. Trust me, though, this job will be enough. And as for the kids..."

Millie proceeded to shove Moxxie towards the bed and hopped on him as he laid there.

"...we can always start anytime we want. I'm game."

They both smiled, and shared a kiss. Before Moxxie can proceed to remove his bowtie and take the couple down a rabbit hole, they heard snapshots.

Moxxie turned to the window and noticed Blitzo hastily taking photos of his co-workers behind a bush. As he ran away giggling, Moxxie made his way out of Millie's body and opened the window to shout obscenities.

"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!"

Millie giggled as well, and laid herself down.

"So, I guess that means no baby time?"

Moxxie snickered as he proceeded to close the blinds, exciting Millie a little.

"No. I just remembered exactly what I was arguing."

Millie frowned and shot puppy eyes towards her husband. She turned her body the other way and grunted.

—

"Moxxie?"

After his daydreaming, Moxxie was sent back to Earth with Dr. Smith, who began snapping in between Moxxie's eyes to get a reaction.

"Moxxie, how did that work out for you?"

The demon shook his head and sputtered. "Aw man, I was really out of there, was I? Anyways, no. She insisted that we stay."

"How odd."

"Yep, that's my Milli—*GASP* Fuck!"

Dr. Smith looked up from his clipboard and raised an eyebrow. "You don't have to worry about giving me names. There's literally nothing I can do with that information."

"Right."

Suddenly, the door swung open. Four armored soldiers with black plating and green jumpsuits began marching down, looking bloodthirsty.

"Hey, Smitty, get the fuck out of our way."

The doctor was shook by the barking orders of one of the soldiers. He was built, and had his head shaven as well. He was basically a real life G.I. Joe.

Along with the apparent squadron were three other soldiers, one lean dark-skinned male with puffy hair and a full grown beard, a blonde haired woman with a scar overlapping her left eye, and another soldier who looked like the G.I. Joe's scrawny counterpart, with more facial hair.

"We'll take it from here, Coats. You go back there and answer the signal. Someone wants to talk to you."

The doctor sternly left his chair and waved his hand as he proceeded to leave. "Very well then. If that's what has to be done."

He closed the door behind him. Moxxie gulped as he saw the leader walk menacingly and slowly towards him.

"Aah. Let's have a looksie here. Big ass horns, red ass skin, dumbass clothes, and a bitch ass voice to match your equally bitchy body. What's your name, kiddo?"

Moxxie took another gulp as he carefully tried choosing the right words to say. "M-M-Moxxie, sir..."

"I see. Well Moxxie, do you realize just how fucking stupid you and your team are?"

"W-what?"

Suddenly, the dark-skinned male walked up alongside his boss and instantly made eye contact with Moxxie.

"You and your people were sent here to retrieve guns to solve a crisis. Or so you all thought. In reality, we had this all set up to isolate you and you alone."

The demon replied, "So...is that why you guys spared the rest?"

The leader jumped in. "Negative, my compadre. We weren't as sharp that day. Ol' Icky here got the stability of a 70 year old man with an extreme case of fucking arthritis." He proceeded to elbow the scarred woman, who shoved him back, as he proceeded to laugh.

"I'll put more shrapnel in your stupid ass heart if you keep talking shit."

"Heh. Alright kid, name's King. This bearded guy is Midnight."

The dark-skinned male rolled his eyes. "Again with the 'subtle' racism? That's not even my codename, man."

"This crazy bitch is Icky. Careful around her, she earned her codename like all of us. And last but certainly not least, this ol' skinny fucker is Twig. Don't let the lack of a manhood fool you, this kid here is a demolition expert."

Twig may have been the least intimidating, but he stared down Moxxie like he had homicidal tendencies towards the imprisoned demon.

"Okay, enough dicking around. Right now, there isn't much left to do with you, other than to make an example for the rest. You see, Moxxie ol' buddy, like your own team, we too, are contract killers. Best ones in the game right now. For some dumbass reason, we were all hired to keep YOUR team in check, and ensure there was no fucking around."

Moxxie replied with confusion, "What?"

"Yep. Sadly, this whole assignment was a failure. Like our client predicted, you are in fact the weak link of the team, and your services will have to go to someone else."

...

...

Stolas.

The demon initiated a case. "Wait just a minute. Are you telling me that Stolas hired you all to capture me and send me elsewhere?"

"I cannot verify that this is his name, and of course not! We are here to send you to HIM!"

"To do what?"

"Although our client sees you as the most vulnerable, he sees something in you that he has never seen within any contract killer before, not even us. He saw a lot of knowledge inside that big cranium of yours, and a heart bigger than my goddamn head. He believes that with enough development and patience, he can transform you into his indentured killer, having to kill for him without any cost, or bullshit."

"Wait, really?"

"Well, that, and he probably wants to fuck you."

Moxxie gasped.

Midnight stepped up. "He's gonna give you that double-twist combo, dude."

Icky followed. "He'll make a lunch out of your dick sauce and your genitals. Garnished fucking steak."

Twig was silent.

King turned towards the demolition expert. "Fuck me to high heaven, you really are a boring ol' prick. Heh heh."

The leader was not finished. He swiftly grabbed Moxxie by the arm, pulled the sheets down, and saw that he was chained down to the bed.

"I'm gonna be straight with you, there is no way in hell that I am going to let my client down. So let's look at benefits, alright? You get to live in a great space of your own, you will be fed frequently, and you'll have a toilet to piss and shit on...frequently. You can come with us right now and do us all a favor."

Moxxie leaned over slightly. He didn't wanna get overly hostile. "And if I refuse?"

Everybody was silent. The three soldiers stared at their leader, looking worried for what will happen next. His high energy and his wide grin suddenly faded away in record time. The soldier leaned over to Moxxie's ear.

"I'll beat the living dogshit out of you, and keep you in this bed for much longer."

The demon was frozen in fear. He wanted to go back home with Millie and his co-workers, instead of being given an ultimatum by another team of contract killers. He thought deeply about it, and realized that there is something worse than living poor.

Living in shackles.

Moxxie abruptly got in King's face and smiled crazily. The leader smiled back, but his smile began to fade when the demon slowly raised his middle finger and proceeded to chuckle.

King looked visibly furious, but looked over his shoulder and motioned for the rest of the team to get out of the room. They all nodded, and when their backs turned for the door, King swung his fist towards Moxxie's face and proceeded to nearly break his nose.

Blood became pouring like crazy. Moxxie held his hands up and tried to talk with blood coming down over his mouth, but King winded a second punch and landed it up Moxxie's jaw.

That was enough to knock him out, but King was not able to notice until after five more blows.

—-

6 HOURS LATER

Moxxie woke up. He noticed something dry and sticky around his face and the bedsheets.

"You had a lot of blood to clean up. That was repulsive."

It was the doctor, once again. He had a sandwich on one of his hands and another one on top of a tray on his other hand. He offered it to the imp.

"Care for some food?"

Moxxie was not fully waken up, as the pain around his face began numbing his train of thought, and the dried blood around his face began giving him a nauseating metallic smell.

...

"Oh. Right. Sorry, I'll ask again a little later. Anyways...where did we leave off?"

Moxxie proceeded to mumble something under his breath. It sounded like he had a question.

Dr. Smith noticed it. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"What were you sent down for?"

Dr. Smith looked like he was relieved and went back to his sandwich. "Don't worry about it, my friend. We're here to talk about you and you only, alright?"

"Oh yeah, let me just totally agree to that without thinking."

"Now calm down, I am just doing my job. I cannot be giving you information of my own."

"...Fuck you."

"I'm glad we have a mutual understanding, Moxxie. Now, why are you turning this offer down? I think King was pretty reasonable."

Moxxie sat up for the first time and looked directly at Dr. Smith and his cold eyes.

"I know what this is, and I'm not doing this. I know why Stolas is trying to tear the team apart, and that is because he is tired of spending his money on risky business. He has used up Blitzo as a toy, now he is trying to move on to the next person with a dick. He's trying to get his kills for free."

"Well, I wouldn't say it like tha—"

"I'm not going to sell myself to slavery. That wouldn't be fair to those I care about. I'm not going through with that."

"Listen, I've seen what King and his team can do. You have approximately two more chances. Three strikes and they are going to do unimaginable things to you."

"Like what?"

"One time, they tried getting a high-profile killer to get on board with them and work under them as another mercenary. He refused, and King proceeded to skin the man alive with his bare hands. He degloved the face first, then moved on to the abdomen. After that, he cut his hands off so he wouldn't be able to resist. He proceeded to cut the eyes, the nose, the tongue. How the man was still alive for over an hour and a half, I'll never know. I just know that it ended after cutting two of his limbs."

"Holy shit...and why? Why do all that?"

"Because he wants me to give visual evidence to targets like you after you don't comply for the first time."

The doctor handed Moxxie multiple photographs. Once the demon got a glimpse of the many photos in his hand, he sighed.

"We did this once. I just don't remember when."

"So you know the severity of the situation now."

Moxxie turned and looked to the only window in the tight room. He opened the blinds and noticed a sunset. He put his hands on the window and began thinking about everyone that was waiting for him.

"Hey Moxxie, focus back to me. I have something to tell you."

The demon turned to Dr. Smith, feeling anxious to the point where his body was shaking.

"I was told that I.M.P folded last week."

Moxxie was shocked to hear the news, and began feeling a sense of dread climb up his throat. He was now jobless, and not only that, his wife was most likely jobless as well.

"Fuck."

The doctor concurred, "Yes. Fuck, indeed."

—

With Dr. Smith holding him by his side to help him walk, Moxxie left the infirmary and was greeted by a dark night sky full of visible stars. There was a bonfire and smoke up ahead. He could hear the conversations happening dozens of yards away from him.

Once he got there, he found King, Midnight, Icky, and Twig eating beans from their cans.

The leader was the first to break the awkward confrontation. "Hey buddy, want some?"

Moxxie was silent, and sat himself down with his gown coming down to the floor.

"Careful now, you don't wanna get that dirty. It'll be the only thing you wear for this trip, or maybe even the last. Heh heh."

No response.

"Alright, maybe I expected too much from asking the first time, I'll admit it. But me and the boys have been itching for a payday. You understand, right?"

This was a perfect time to make conversation. "I can relate, I guess."

"So, I heard you have a special someone waiting for you at home. How's the missus? Is she cute?"

"Yeah, she really is. She's ferocious. I um..."

The soldiers were waiting for him to continue talking, but it was obvious that he wasn't going to spill the beans anytime soon."

King spoke up. "Well?"

"I...even wrote a song about her."

The soldiers began laughing and hooting. There was even some whistling.

"Well, can you sing it to us?"

"I could...it's just that I usually don't do it without a guitar. Sacred ground."

King nodded, and glanced towards Midnight. "Well luckily for you, this guy had the nerve to bring a fucking guitar to the job. A fucking guitar! Haha!"

As Midnight looked at him in utter hatred, he pulled out the guitar from behind him and handed it to Moxxie.

"Use it with care. My girl gifted me that."

The demon nodded and cleared his throat. He put on a big smile and began singing.

"Oh what a thrill, when the crimson starts to spill

And my Millie goes in for the kill

She takes away my breath

She's the angel of death, for me

Oh Millie!"

King interrupted. "Oh damn, this woman of yours! She's a killer too?"

Moxxie nodded. "Yeah, she's a keeper."

Midnight followed. "Alright King, shut the hell up and let the guy sing."

And thus Moxxie continued his song.

"She's my queen

It's like a dream

When I hear her victims start to scream

In and out of the sack, she's the maniac for me

Oh, Millie!"

Icky began laughing, and Moxxie started getting a little irritated.

"Hey lover boy, how much of a 'maniac' is she, IN the sack?"

"I'm not answering that..."

Strangely, King was on Moxxie's side. "Yeah, shut the fuck up, woman! We already know these two fuck like dogs, eh Mox?"

All the soldiers laughed. Even Twig chuckled a little, which threw off everybody else.

He spoke with a Russian accent. "This is good, and funny, no?"

"Thanks. Alright, last two verses here."

"When the blood starts drippin' down the walls

And the bodies, start to fall

My heart skips a beat

When my Millie's guns a-blazin' in the heat

My assasin love

She makes the murderin' fun, for me

Oh la-da-de!

Of all the imps in hell, it's for her that I fell

Oh Millie~"

They all clapped, and even Dr. Smith joined in on the applause.

"That was entertaining as shit. Well done."

Moxxie gave King a thumbs up in response, but shortly after, he held his hands in his mouth as something was coming up.

He threw up all over the bonfire, cutting the fire off and darkening the place. Everybody began groaning, and King was laughing at the predicament that he just witnessed.

"Aw come on, Mox! Out of all places?"

—

There was nothing worse than the monitor showing Moxxie's heart beating at a low rate. It spiked down, and nobody knew what happened. Millie had run through two packs of her cigarettes and began drinking at an uncontrollable rate from the leftover beer in the fridge.

"Alright, girls. It's clear that we don't have that much time left, so we gotta make this snappy, okay? We are going to infiltrate Stolas' place once the entire family is asleep. We make our way to his room, retrieve the book, steal our shit back, open the portal, and reclaim our Moxxie back, alright gang?"

Millie took the bottle off of her lips and fell over from her chair. "T-t-the fuck? *belch* Where did you *hic* get a portal from? Are you a *hic* wizard?" She began laughing.

Loona was surprisingly listening loud and clear, mostly because this was one of her first big assignments as a receptionist, and she was keen on coming out of there with her life intact.

"We're not going to have to jump off the fucking castle, right? Don't forget how you got the book in the first place."

"Alright, that's true, that's true."

Blitzo and Loona were walking out, ready to start their heist. However, Millie was still knocked out on the floor.

The boss turned around and noticed his employee snoring. "Oh for the Anti-Christ's sake! Loona, give me some water!"


	5. Their Heist

After a lot of retching and being forced to drink water, Millie was a little better, but was still a little crude around the edges. Right now, they were going to simply grapple their way into the balcony of Stolas' room, and leave with their book and the guns. Right now, they were already hiding behind the hedges that surrounded the entire castle, with a guarded entrance on the other side.

Blitzo peeked over, and noticed the two guards idly standing still with determination on their faces. Luckily, they were far away, and their line of sight was outside their destination. It was time. He pulled out a backpack he brought for the mission, and proceeded to take out a large grappling gun.

The boss offered it to his adopted hellhound. "Okay Loonie, first time using a hook. You want some pointers?"

She snatched it out of his hands, surprising him. "Heh, you underestimate me."

With one hand, she aimed high for the balcony and shot the hook. It cut through the air and came in strong...

...missing seven yards wide right from the balcony.

Loona slapped herself in the face, as she was visibly frustrated.

"Fuck! Alright, let me try it again. Just wait for the hook to come bac—"

The hook did return, and it slashed Loona's cheek and ballistically inserted itself back inside the barrel.

"FUCK!"

Millie turned around and noticed her co-worker's inability to do anything right.

"Okay, doggie, let the profes-*hic* professionals try it."

She grabbed the grip with two hands, and shot the hook perfectly as it returned and latched itself onto one of the rails of the balcony.

Millie made a kissing motion. "Mwah! Poi'fection!"

However, she did not offer a hand for any of them, as she tried using her one hand to grab a bottle she hid inside her pocket. Blitzo and Loona panicked, as they both latched onto the grip of the grappling hook and held onto her. Once the rope pulled in, however, they had disconnected from each other in mid air, flying loosely into the same direction. Loona faceplanted onto the wall above the opening of the balcony, Blitzo awkwardly hit his legs onto the rails and began cartwheeling into the owl prince's closet, and Millie didn't even make the balcony. She for some reason let go in the first second and crashed into a table, leaving her absolutely wasted, in a figurative and literal sense.

Blitzo brushed himself off, as Stolas somehow did not hear the commotion that happened feet away from him. He was always known to be a heavy sleeper. Blitzo scrambled and dug through the owl's personal bookcase, but couldn't find the book of rituals. At this stage, it was getting very irritating.

"AHH FUCK!"

Blitzo shoved one of the books out the door, and it was almost a direct hit to Loona's face, who saw everything.

Then all of a sudden, a voice had emerged.

"Ohh, Blitzy..."

Fuck.

—-

Millie moaned as she held her head, making sure it was in one piece after the collision.

She realized that she was in the courtyard of the castle. The guards were a long distance from her, so she was safe, for now. The front entrance was already there, and assuming that the door was heavily locked, it will require more than just...

*RING RING RING*

Millie picked up the phone. "Hello!?"

There was a whispering voice. "Hey bitch, it's me, Loona. That fucking bird woke up! Right now, he is seducing Blitzo, and I doubt he is going to stop. Okay, look, he did not find the book in the closet. I can tell. You're the only one who isn't stuck up here. Go inside and try to find it stealthily.

...aaaaand she knocks over the door with one of her prized axes.

Her eyes widened as Natasha, the owl prince's own daughter, came face to face with her. She was in shock, pouring a glass of milk that floods as she continues to be distracted by the sudden arrival of the imp demon. Millie could do nothing but shoot back a nervous laugh and tighten her grip on her axe.

They both were at a standstill for four more seconds. Eventually, Natasha cleared her throat, and was about to scream at the top of her lungs. Luckily, Millie was able to pick it up and proceeded to grab the child and cupped her mouth with her hand.

"Shh, shh, you go back upstairs to your mommy, and stay in bed, okay?"

Natasha shoved Millie's arm away and began coughing. "I'm twelve, you shithead!"

"Oh, good!"

Millie proceeded to shoo away the girl, and waved at her. The demon was generously thanked with a middle finger from the bird (no pun intended). She shook off the insult, and continued on with her search. She started with the drawers from the wine cabinet, but could only find shopping coupons mixed with confidential documents, and old childhood drawings of the entire family. Most of them were ripped...in half. Something crazy must have happened in this household.

She moved from the wine cabinet and went to four separate doors. One of them was a walk-in closet, the other was a large bathroom space with a toilet dead center (awkward architectural design). The next one was a food closet that was full of bagged goods and cans. This was unusual for a high class family that fixated itself on luxury. However, luxury is merely a label when it comes to twelve-year old girls. There was obviously some spoiling happening. Finally, she settled on a basement downstairs. There was a long staircase that led to a menacing dark space. She did not have the guts to go down...at first. But when she grabbed Moxxie's heart monitor and observed it beating back to normal in her pocket, she was hellbent on getting this done as quick as possible.

Then she realized: "The wife and child have a fucking bedroom for Anti-Christ's sake."

She went up the staircase that led to the second floor. Empty corridors full of paintings and busts of various demonic figures that represented the nobility of the city. There was no clear distinction between most of them, since most of them were owls. A selection of self-pride. The ego within the second floor was off the charts.

Another trip up the stairs. There was a bar, a gaming room, an armory, and a dance hall. This was where the recreational rooms belonged. In an instant, Millie began eyeing the bar, and was keen on pouring herself a drink. She worked very hard to get to where she is now. Then she stopped herself and spoke quietly. "Hold on, Millie, are ya' really going to waste your time inside this bar with all these...expensive bottles of champagne, rosé, and so much more?"

There was a pause.

"Ah, fuck it. I'll just take one bottle."

And so she did. She took an expensive Armand de Brignac Ace of Spades. Her mouth was watering, and she was going to find the corkscrew to open her stolen goods. Then she thought back to the mission and decided to sneak inside the backpack that she carried with her, due to Blitzo's orders to get some storage ready for the guns.

Except she snuck in a lot more than she can fit. The Armand de Brignac was not even significant anymore.

She continued upstairs, and went to the fourth floor. On her right, she found a large golden door, possibly leading to the wife's bedroom.

And so it was. She helped herself inside, and was greeted by two familiar red eyes. Natasha was slumped over on the side of the king sized white bed with her mother. She waved at Millie, and pointed to her mother.

Millie was not very understanding when it came to children, but the way that the little rascal mouthed her made it evident that she was going to begin her shenanigans.

She walked up to the bed and smiled, as the young owl and the imp stared at each other.

The worst thing you can do around a hired killer is letting your guard down. From one of her pockets in her jacket, Millie pulled out a chloroform napkin, and began pushing it over the girls mouth. Natasha jumped and was struggling for a few seconds, before she was knocked out by the scent.

After taking care of the spoiled child, she looked around and noticed two things. One, the bedroom did not have that much furniture, and while there were a few things, they were not usually things with drawers. The only thing that she can look inside of the closet.

No surprise, it was merely clothes scattered all over the place. Judging by the unusual amount of feathers left inside, there was a fit of some kind.

"I told you this day would come. The day you finally decide to change that sweet little mind of yours, and return back to the arms of yours truly! So, my soldier, how do you want it?" Stolas began thrusting the blanket in excitement, pretending that he was holding Blitzo right now.

"I can do it deep, and fast." Stolas began panting, and started sweating profusely. The heat of the moment has already made him a sweaty mess.

Blitzo shuddered. He did not get out of bed today to get touched by the only person he sincerely hates in Hell. There was no getting out of this one. Blitzo tried to reason, however, despite his odds.

"Look, Stolas. I'm sorry about everything. I just want my guns back. Please."

"Ah, yes. And the books scattered next to me is a clear indication that you only came here for the guns, yes?"

Blitzo gulped.

"Don't play dumb with me, Blitzy. You play dumb with me, I am going to fuck your tiny little brains out, and I'm going to fuck you stupid." The owl started caressing Blitzo's face, biting his lips and sticking his tongue out. He was itching for some action. It did not help that his wife seriously resented him.

"Look, Stolas. If you promise you'll let me go and give me back my weapons, I'll...I'll…"

Stolas got out of his sheets. The moonlight hit his bare body for Blitzo to see. It was repulsive, but a little captivating for a feathered creature. His member stuck out, pink, slimy, and ready to work. The distinction between the color of his feathers and his third arm was night and day.

Blitzo began cursing under his breath.

"What was that, you dirty boy?"

"I'll...I'll"

Blitzo began squinting his eyes in fear. His hands were trembling, and the sweat from his forehead broke down like a waterfall.

Just when he was about to do the impossible, he heard a loud noise. Stolas' expression quickly changed from excitement to severe pain. He was knocked out, and fell over forward. It was Loona, who used one of the prince's expensive lamps and hit it over his head.

Blitzo's toothy grin came out. He was visibly proud of his adopted hound taking initiative and putting the royal owl back in his place.

"Don't thank me just yet. Remember what we came here for." Loona offered a hand, which Blitzo accepted with a tight grip. They both walked out and swung out of the door.

Millie was now face to face with the same thing that she feared just a couple of minutes ago. There was one certain room she hadn't tried just yet.

The basement.

She tip-toed her way down the creaky staircase. It was moments like these where she had to be careful, so she held her mace by her side and took out a lighter to see through. The stairs extended as far as fourteen steps. Just a couple more and she'll be face to face with the solved mystery.

Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen...Fourteen.

The lights flickered.

"Freeze, bitch!"

Millie felt the barrel of a gun pressed against her temple. She blinked repeatedly and rubbed her eyes.

Holy shit.

It was Baal.

And his clan.

In their white jumpsuits and ski masks. Only this time, they had armed themselves to the teeth with weapons.

Their weapons.

Despite the reunion, the members were still keen on keeping her surrounded with their guard fully up.

"Hang on, hang on, I got this."

The fedora wearing leader walked towards Millie with a slight stride. He was going to compromise with the person that he thought was an ally.

"Millie, just what in the Nine Circles of Hell are you doing here?"

Millie dropped her mace. What the rest didn't see, however, is that she kept something close to her. She tightened her grip on it. There was a flicker.

"Ah, I'm going to level with ya', I came here to retrieve a book. It used to belong to u-"

The leader held his gloved hand up.

"And I'm going to jump down to that level for a bit. Stolas warned us that you were a potential threat to his possessions. That explained why you weren't inside your house. You've been plotting all this time, huh?"

There was visible confusion in Millie's face. "H-Huh?"

She looked around. There was at least fifteen of them surrounding her in this large space. There was no way she was going to make it out of here alive. Unless…

"You see, Millie, these are our guns now. Nothing personal. Just business."

Baal continued to fan himself with a stack of cash. All those bones in his hand made Millie salivate from the mouth. However, she shook herself out of it.

"Alright, alright. I understand."

She turned to walk away. Everybody was still focused on her.

"Oh, and one more thing, 'Baal'." She muttered his name in mockery. "You ever drank Bacardi before?"

The room was confused. Without thinking, she threw her backpack at the leader and ran upstairs for the door. The clan began panicking, and shot at the imp demon's feet. Unfortunately, one of the bullets got Millie by the foot, causing her to yelp in pain and stumble a little bit. They started chasing her up the stairs. However, she made it out safe as she closed the door. She found the wine cabinet right next to it and with all of her might, pushed it in front of the door. There was a loud banging on the other side, as Millie tried fitting in more things that she can get her hands on. Once she had a few chairs there, she ran off and left the castle.

"Fuck!" Baal punched the door with all his might, spiraling off in seething rage.

Suddenly, one of the members noticed something.

"Um, sir, the backpack she left behind is burning."

They all turned around, and noticed the backpack sitting there. It was lit on fire. What's worse is that it was unzipped, and Baal walked forward to get a closer look.

It was a flaming Barcadi 151.

A Molotov Cocktail of her own.

"Oh fuck me, dearl-"

A loud explosion sent everybody back, and through the blockade. Millie exploded through the courtyard, and almost forgot that the entrance was guarded. At the last second, she pulled out her trusty axe.

Two demons turned to see what the commotion was all about and noticed her charging at full speed. Before they can even cock their guns, Millie slashed through both of their bodies, cutting them from the waist down, and leaving four halves on the ground. The element of surprise.

After they hoarded a number of weapons that belonged to the armory on the third floor, Blitzo and Loona were running down the middle of the third floor when they heard the explosion. It rocked the building, and caused both of them to slip and fall a few steps forward. Blitzo had an awkward fall, and screamed in pain.

Loona did not have time. "Come on, we have to get the hell out of here!"

They noticed that there was the sound of marching downstairs. Shadows of armed men were getting darker and larger. It seems like they split up.

On the second floor, otherwise known as the Great Stolas Exhibit, there was a large window pane that lead to the front side of the castle. Loona took quick notice of this, took quick notice of the grappling hook that she recovered in the balcony, and looked at Blitzo.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

They both crashed out the window, and with quick thinking, Loona shot the grappling hook towards a telephone line, and it landed on the post. They swung at a high altitude, knowing that there could be certain death at any time. It did not matter. Once they reached their lowest peak, they let go and fell violently as they continued rolling towards the street.

As they both struggled to get up after all the damage that their bodies took a familiar hand reached out.

"Come on, let's go back and finish this. I have two rifles with your names on them."

—-

Moxxie sat down at the empty dining table that sat in the corridor of the infirmary. He had heated a can of beans earlier today as he made a speedy recovery from his wounds.

He thought about it, and felt that he and his team were capable of getting out of the castle and reuniting as one. There was a feeling lying inside him that made him optimistic.

Dr. Smith came in with a tray of his own, including a small ration package of cereal, a white milk carton, and a banana. It was nighttime, and obviously right now was not a good time to have breakfast, but it usually works for the doctor.

As he sat himself down, he took a quick note of the demon's mood today. "Wow, I take it that you will accept the second time around."

Moxxie did not hesitate. "Yep. I know I'm being held against my will, but if I can survive this, then Stolas probably won't be too bad."

"Well, I cannot ruin any surprises for you, but I am glad you decided to comply. I was actually starting to like you."

Moxxie gave Dr. Smith a thumbs up, and continued his food.

Suddenly, Midnight ran over to the table.

"Doctor! Mox! We have been compromised! The others that were hired alongside us have come to this world!"

Moxxie was thrown back by the statement. "What!?" If there were more people besides the four gunmen and the doctor, then that is serious bad news.

"Smitty, you know what to do!" The man pointed at the doctor and tilted his head towards Moxxie's side, looking him on.

The doctor nodded, and held Moxxie's hand to escort him. The demon followed without any fight in him.

"Okay, look, I am going to have to drop you off inside your room. There will be people guarding the door, and there will be wanderers outside of your window, so don't bother trying to escape us if that is what you are thinking about."

That was a lot of information, but Moxxie nodded.

"Also, you might want to take this."

Dr. Smith walked up to one of the lounge cabinets and took out a rather large stuffed bear. He grabbed it and handed it to Moxxie, throwing him back by surprise.

"What the fuck? What am I, to you, sir? Eight?"

"You're gonna need it for emotional support, duh."

Reluctantly, Moxxie accepted the gift. The doctor hastily kept Moxxie close to him, as they headed for the room.

Meanwhile at the front side of the base, King, Icky, and Twig waited outside the portal, which was spawned inside the base this time.

A dozen men hopped out, wearing white jumpsuits and black ski masks. It was Baal's clan.

King hooted and threw his body back, with his arms reaching out. "Ho ho! What happened, fellas? Was it the little girl?"

Baal, who was the first to appear, groaned and reassured the mercenary. "No, there was another girl. A grown ass girl. She almost blew us to bits with this."

The leader handed the other leader Millie's backpack, which had been burnt into a crisp. However, there were still a couple of shards inside, and even some labels barely intact."

"Ah, any heavy drinking killer can tell you this is a must for any situation. Must be a crafty girl. Wait…"

The soldier thought back to the night where they all gathered around the bonfire, and the song that Moxxie sang for them.

"Well well well, Mox. You weren't kidding. She really is a maniac. Heh heh."

Twig stepped up to the leader and pointed back to the infirmary. "Not good. I watch him, yes?"

"Don't worry, buddy. These fine gentlemen are going to keep the little fucker in check. We'll need you out there in case they come."

The demolitions expert remained idle, but when he took out one of his grenade launchers, it was clear as day to King that he was going to look forward to a bloodbath.

He looked over and counted the men.

"Hey, weren't there twenty of you? I count twelve, fuckers."

"Some of us had to stay back and guard the book."

"Why the fuck would you send eight then?"

—-

Millie was shot in the shoulder. She winced. It was the second time she suffered a bullet. Luckily, they were wounds from rapid shooting rifles.

Blitzo and Loona joined her behind the hedge, back to where they were last time. They assumed the family has woken up, and the chaos will only go in Stolas' favor if they keep waiting. Who knows what other people he hired for this?

Then, a flashlight appeared inside Blitzo's head. "Loona!"

The hound turned to her side, breathing heavily. "What!?"

"The capsule!"

He was of course, referring to the unholy hand grenade, which would be very useful right about now. It was time to take the fight to the clan.

They are in the same situation as before, only this time, Blitzo and Loona have a handful of Stolas' guns, and a powerful grenade.

Loona stared at it and looked back to her boss. "How the fuck am I supposed to activate this?"

Blitzo put his hand on his face and realized that this was going to be difficult with one inexperienced combatant. "You have to snap it in half! You'll have five seconds!"

Loona gasped. "This little fucking thing!?" She looked at it again, and tried with all her might to get it to work. Eventually, the capsule did snap in two, exposing a dark void inside the two colors of red and black. She looked back towards three of the guards, and threw it in their direction. However, a little before she threw the capsule, the men noticed her head peeking out and proceeded to shoot in her direction, scaring her off and causing her to chuck it.

Lucky her, the capsule was right in the center of the trio, forming a triangle.

They looked down and shrieked. A second later, their screams would be drawn out by a multitude of unexplainable noises.

Blitzo pulled Loona out as Millie covered her ears. "Don't look back at it! Wait for it to be all over!"

The loud sounds continued. They disturbingly took multiple forms in the imagination of all three of them. This continued for eight more seconds.

Silence.

The three looked back, and saw pools of blood and guts in the place of where the gunman used to be.

Millie gasped. "It's safe to say that grenade wasn't very nice to them."

There were still two more, and unbeknownst to them, these were a special pair. When they walked inside, they found them.

Two of them were armored all over with shiny silver plating. They each held a staff with sharp pointy spikes for each side. They were drenched in blood. It was safe to say that these two held a special place in Baal's clan as the final line.

This was the leader's strategy. Toughen up the line of defense that was placed in front of the book to prevent as many blows to him and his team as possible.

Blitzo looked up in pure horror at the war machine. It did not flinch, it kept its posture and established its stance, charging back the staff. "Well...that's one way to do your job."

Millie and Loona ducked behind one of the couches, signaling Blitzo to come down to hatch a plan. He took out a crowbar from the opened backpack that he carried in his hand. Blitzo spun it around, but stumbled and dropped it onto the floor. Loona snickered at the unpreparedness that her boss had, but then again, this was no laughing matter. Blitzo picked the crowbar back up swiftly, and turned his body towards his opponents.

"Alright, look here you oversized buckets of floppy fishy stinking shits, we are going to take that book...and um...if you don't move on the count of three, I will-"

One of the members shook his head and bitch slapped the imp, sending him three yards back with a bruise on his left cheek. Millie and Loona gasped at the might of the slap, and scrambled for the backpack. Millie took her axe back out, while Loona found a submachine stolen from the armory.

"Wait, Loona! Don't!"

Millie's request was ignored by Loona, as the hound raised from the couch and aimed high for one of the armored men. She shot a couple to their direction. Almost instantly, the bullets went the other direction as the armor deflected them back. Loona had quick instinct and ducked, while Millie bit two to her shoulder, injuring it once more.

"AHH! Ya' fucking moron! Listen to me next time, damnit!"

Loona turned and looked pissed at first, but suddenly felt sick to her stomach when she made eye contact with the muscle of the team. Millie had the eyes of a raging bull, seeing red.

The two armored men came closer and were about to take a swing. Millie held up her axe, stood herself up, and took a swing to send them back. She hopped out from the couch and was on dangerous ground.

The members looked at each other and nodded. As she took a blind swing towards the middle of their bodies, one man swung, causing her to swing high. The other one swung low and slashed Millie through her exposed abdomen, causing her to scream in agony.

She was sent back and held her stomach, as the bleeding continued. It was a nasty gash. Still, she opened her eyes again and was determined to avoid any other mistakes. The rest were most likely waiting for them at the portal. Once they control the castle, they will also have a large selection of weapons in the armory. From there, they have the edge to retrieve Moxxie.

She stood up, throwing the axe down the floor in sheer excitement. Her hair was drenched in sweat, her skin shone with the blood on her upper area, and her eyes were burning fire.

She took off the jacket, and held the axe close to her like it was a baseball bat.

Millie ran straight and screamed. She swung hard, and knocked the chest plate off one guy. In defense, the other one swung at her like the staff was a hammer, hoping to make a direct hit for her head. She pushed herself to the side, and took out the avenger's plate. Before the man was able to notice, Millie spun around and swung the axe straight through the exposed chest. A perfect hit. The man yelled in shock and coughed out blood. It was safe to say she got the heart. The man tried to get a hold of Millie as he fell to the floor, but she kicked him down to his resting spot.

One cronie left. He was pissed to see that they were about to pull it off.

He lunged at Millie with all he had.

"Duck!"

Millie complied, and bent down. The last thing the man was able to see was a large pocket knife fly straight towards his eye.

It was Blitzo. He threw one of his signature weapons and not only pierced the man's eye, but even got a piece of his brain.

The man was braindead. He fell over to the side and laid with his fallen comrade. They were both dead.

Millie's face flushed.

"Oh man, that was hot!" She cackled in laughter, while Blitzo and Loona stared at each other with worry. It was very common for Millie to find pleasure in murdering others in cold blood...just not that kind of pleasure…

Out of nowhere, a familiar voice came from the staircase. "Just wait until you get a piece of me."

The trio was alerted by the mysterious voice. They already knew what was about to come.

It was Stolas, holding an M203 grenade launcher and getting positioned for the kill. This time, he was in his proper attire, and even had time to put on his hat.

"Okay now, you all wanna explain to me why the FUCK you're really here for?"

All three looked at each other, and Millie shot a look back at the owl, giving him a crooked smile.

"We're here for my man, you little shit!"

Stolas cocked his weapon. "Well boo-fucking-hoo, Millie. You know how hard it is to constantly pay you pieces of shit for a failed job? My competition is starting to position themselves ahead of me by a full lap, all because I have trusted the wrong company. You lost me, and you all lose, alright? You're all losers!"

The blunt statement from the owl made them contemplate their shortcomings. It didn't matter for Millie, though. She was going to get this done, even if it was the last thing she'd do.

She stood for her co-workers. "Okay, okay, so we screwed up a job or two. That's on us, okay? But if you think you are going to bury the I.M.P under and get away with it, well I have some news for you, honey."

Stolas raised an eyebrow.

"You don't fuck with the I.M.P."

When Stolas wasn't here, she grabbed one of the metallic chest plates and had it behind her back, which Blitzo and Loona noticed quite well.

"So here, take this."

Millie held her arm back and chucked the silver plate. It went flying across the living room, and went directly to the barrel of the grenade launcher. Out of panic, Stolas pulled the trigger and sent a projectile flying towards the trio. However, it was a perfect path to the plate, which was just a foot away from him.

BOOM!

The projectile had collided with the plate and exploded, sending Stolas flying back and catching fire. His feathers were quite flammable, which Millie acknowledged. Blitzo ran up to the burning majestic bird and gave him a good slug to the gut. Stolas fell to his knees, crying for help.

"And that's what you get for making me your fucking slut!"

Blitzo looked back to see Loona shaking her head in disappointment.

"Oh fuck off! It sounded better in my head!"

Millie observed the burning prince, and saw the grenade launcher right next to his struggling body.

"Hey y'all! You know what I'm thinking?"

Blitzo and Loona turned their heads in confusion, and walked over to Millie's spot. They looked at the grenade launcher with her, and grinned menacingly at the many possibilities the weapon offered.

Moxxie was in the room, but he wasn't on his bed as promised. He took a good look at the many cabinets below the counter, seeing what he can use to get himself out. This was the reason why he stopped being so reluctant to the proposal. He studied his environment, and tried to come up with a foolproof way to get out of here. He has the essentials, but now he needed to study the place alone a little more in order to go through with it. There were still a couple of unknowns that remained inside.

There was still some rubbing alcohol. He was thinking to himself for a little bit, and realized that there was a magnifying glass. He forced the lens out of the frame, and thought to himself once again.

He got it.

There was a spare flashlight that Dr. Smith told Moxxie about. It was on the second cabinet from the left side of the counter. He tried the flashlight, noticing that it turned on just fine. Perfect! It still had batteries.

Now he needed some tinder. There was a roll of paper towels. This would do just fine. He laid the tinder on the floor, making sure that it was not too crumpled or too thinly spread out. Afterwards, he held up his magnifying glass, and held the flashlight close to him. With his fingers, he turned on the flashlight. He held it close to the lens until he created a narrow space full of light. And so he did.

Everything was going right for Moxxie so far. There was a reason why he was employed as a weapons specialist. He knew how to make just about anything a weapon. Teddy bears, TV remotes, sketchbooks, phone chargers, you name it. Now, he was going to use his tools to their full potential and bust himself out of here. His hands were trembling in excitement, hoping to Satan that this crazy plan of his would work.

Thirty seconds later, there was a smell in the room. The two jumpsuit-wearing guards smelled rubbing alcohol, and fire. Oh shit. This was urgent.

They kicked the door open, seeing that the entire hospital room was caught on fire. There were bright colors of red, orange, and yellow just about everywhere. This was complete mayhem.

Out of nowhere, something lunged onto one of the soldiers' back. He instantly grabbed the figure and threw it down, as they both began shooting at the floor.

Silence.

The dust cleared as the fire raged on. It was a stuffed teddy bear.

The guards looked at each other in confusion.

Suddenly, Moxxie dropped from the ceiling and landed on one of the guards. He flattened the guard, and went straight for the other guard, who was surprised once again. Moxxie had a hold of the standing soldier's arms, as he pulled the trigger. They struggled for the rifle, which was spewing bullets everywhere. With a tug, Moxxie pulled the gun to his side and aimed low, causing the soldier to fire at the other clan member's back. One of the bullets reached the head, and caused the downed man, who was spasticity moving, to stop still. He was dead.

The lone guard took quite note of this accident, and was distracted by the stationary corpse. He just killed one of his own.

He looked up, and Moxxie gave him a good headbutt. This caused the guard to fall down and wince in pain. However, Moxxie didn't have time for his misery. He reloaded the rifle and executed the remaining jumpsuit guard. They were dead.

Through the flames, Moxxie walked out with the rifle in his hands, and another that was hung on the back of his gown for safe measure.

On the right side of the corridor, there were lockers. Moxxie ran straight for them and went to the only locker that was wide open. It contained all his clothes, and even a certain weapon that escaped the sack that he held before he was shot down.

"Oh hell yeah…"

Midnight tugged on his leader's arm. "Sir! The infirmary is on fire!" 

King looked back over his shoulder and witnessed a fiery explosion knock out one of the windows.

"Goddamnit! That red little sneak! I'm going to fucking KILL HIM!"

The leader grunted and began marching towards the building. Before he even got a chance to exceed ten paces towards his destination, the air was filled with screams.

One of Baal's men shouted. "BOMB!"

BOOM! An explosion three feet within the portal followed. The four soldiers that kept themselves in close range were killed in the blast, leaving behind dismembered body parts and dropped weapons.

All of a sudden, three bulky characters hopped out of the portal.

Blitzo, Loona, and Millie were covered in at least three pieces of plating, shared from the two armored corpses. Millie held her axe in her hand, Loona had a semi-automatic rifle, and Blitzo carried the grenade launcher that just took everybody by surprise.

The three mercenaries were taken aback by the resurgence of the once-vulnerable team. King pointed towards their direction and yelled at the top of his lungs, knowing his mission was on the line. "FIRE!"


	6. I Can't Afford To Lose You

Chapter 6: I Can't Afford To Lose You

Moxxie cocked his double barrel shotgun. He was excited to see that they had left the signature weapon inside the locker. As a weapons specialist, he has broken down and reconstructed the gun several times, more times than most weapons. It was a very useful gun for him, and thanks to his background, he was fully aware of its capabilities. On the contrary, he was also fully aware of its shortcomings.

He was hiding behind one of the walls that faced the opposite direction from the corridor. One of Baal's men was blocking off the exit from the infirmary. This was an easy scenario for the imp. All he needed to do was wait for that shadow to get very close, and once the man was in close range, he could ambush him and take him out with one shot.

The shadow got darker, and the footsteps got louder. Moxxie had a tight grip on his shotgun, and braced himself for the kill. As he tightened it to his maximum capacity, he opened his eyes wide open and turned to his side.

There he was.

Before the man could react, Moxxie aimed high and absolutely wasted the man's head. Bits of brain matter flew in all kinds of directions. The eyeballs popped out, and the head was reduced to a chunky bloody mess. It was so red, that even the dark ski mask was decorated in soaked red.

"Oh, Moxxie!"

The imp turned around, and held his gun up, but before he can even get a full look, he took a roundhouse kick to the face, knocking him over and causing him to fumble the weapon. It laid on the floor, and was instantly picked up by a familiar pale set of hands.

It was Icky.

Moxxie had a momentary flashback to the bonfire session. All the mercenaries were sitting around the bonfire.

"So, you had a woman yourself?" Moxxie looked over his shoulder and spoke directly to the only female mercenary of the group.

Icky stared at the bonfire. "I did. She was always a handful. She almost killed me numerous times just from her refusal to back down from a fight. Her fights always ended up being my fights. But I always preferred it that way. It's always fun to splatter the blood on the walls with a loved one, you know?" She picked up a cigarette from her jean pocket and took out a lighter. Before she even lit up her own stick, she decided to shrug and offer it to the demon.

"Hey buddy, you might need this more than me."

Moxxie scratched his head and smiled nervously. "Well it depends on how your story ends."

Icky froze and even scared Moxxie a little bit by her stillness. She broke out of the freeze and looked down. "Right. I lost her years back. It was an easy target. An elderly man in his 70's. He spent his final minutes at a bar, and when I followed him to the back to kill him whilst he smoked, she picked the wrong people to fuck with at a bar. They shot her and cleared the whole area. I thought she was the one who fucked up the mission…"

Moxxie sighed and gave her his eyes, filling her with support.

"...and she was."

That's when Moxxie threw his head back in surprise. "Oh?"

Moxxie was breathing heavily on the floor, still absorbing the immense pain of the kick. Icky chuckled and swung the shotgun around like a toy. "You know, I was getting very used to having five other people bonding for one night. I liked you Moxxie. A lot. Even if you were a spineless shitstain and a headsore. No matter. I'm gonna have to blow your stupid fucking brains out, sweetie! Forgive me."

The demon nodded. "You should know something about shotguns, though."

Icky scoffed. "Oh yeah?"

Suddenly, Moxxie lifted himself out of the floor fast and punched the gun's barrel upward. Icky pulled the trigger and shot inches away from Moxxie's hair. The scattered shot released the metal, and one of them just barely brushed the tip of one single strand of hair from Moxxie. This upward shot sent her back to the floor, and made her vulnerable to the demon.

"You get a little kick out of them."

He kicked the shotgun out of her hands, and proceeded to grab her in a rear naked choke. Her neck was compressed by the arms of Moxxie, and despite their lack of girth, it was like a blade slitting her throat. She was gasping for air, as Moxxie held on for longer. Suddenly, Icky grabbed one of Moxxie's fingers and pulled with all her might. The imp was relentless, but he was abruptly overpowered by the mercenary's hands, as she bent his three fingers back, causing him to scream.

With one hand pushing his fingers far back, she used the other hand to get the other arm away from her neck. She kicked him back with her backfoot, landing it onto the abdomen. The force of its impact caused him to bend down and cough up some of his blood. He shook himself out of it, and charged towards Icky, charging for a powerful swing of his own.

He missed the swing, as Icky read his movements like a book. She lifted her knee up and made immediate contact with the demon's stomach, which was already hurting like a bitch. More of that blood was coughed up, as Icky wrapped herself around his body. She threw herself back onto the floor, and got Moxxie into a chokehold of her own, using the legs to strangle his stomach, and her arms to strangle the neck. He tried to get something to raise himself up, but they were in the middle of the corridor. Nothing was going to work, because there was nothing around him.

He made a desperation move and bit into her hand, causing her to shriek. Instantly, Icky held her arm up and lowered it down and hit Moxxie's temple with her elbow. This was a devastating blow that nearly concussed the demon. He was fading fast.

All that time spent with Dr. Smith, the ballsy decisions he made in front of the mercenaries, all of that was gonna go to waste if he just stood there without doing anything.

There was no time to think.

With his strength, he planted his feet, and proceeded to lift himself and the mercenary up. She continued strangling him as he wobbled to his feet. Suddenly, he ran backwards into a wall, and slammed Icky onto it. She didn't break.

He wasn't going to fail this time.

He ran up to the other wall on the opposite side and bent over, causing Icky's head to come head first with the wall. The impact greatly hurt her neck and her spinal cord, causing her to fall and hold her head in the trauma.

She flipped herself around and saw Moxxie pick up the shotgun. Before she could even think of something to do on the spot, the imp picked up the shotgun and…

BANG!

A perfect shot to her stomach. The blood splattered all around the place, as Icky began moaning in agony.

"T-t-they'll come for you...you're fucked…"

Her chuckling turned into cackling, as she used the rest of her physical power to laugh at the imp.

Moxxie had enough of it. He cocked the shotgun again and aimed at her torso again.

In a matter of two blood-filled seconds, she was shot dead.

Blitzo, Millie, and Loona were all crouching down behind a pile of debris from the explosion. The ground, along with the bushes and the pathways piled up in multiple places. This allowed the team to shelter themselves from the bullets of the clan.

"Alright, Blitzo, you know what to do." Millie smiled and slapped her boss in the back, which out of context, would be a very horrible thing to do, but in the spur of the moment, the team was looking to make it out triumphant.

"Alrighty, Millie. I'm gonna clear a path for you to retrieve your man, okay?"

She nodded, but Blitzo got even closer and kept eye contact, making Millie a little more uncomfortable but alert.

"Don't fuck this up."

Half-assed, she pumped her fist up in whatever kinds of confidence she tried to display.

Blitzo peaked out, and shot a quick one towards another group of men.

Millie ran straight ahead, and for the next couple of seconds, she was nowhere to be seen.

BOOM!

The explosion took out about three. There were about five left. Surely they were able to…

...and another portal opens up at the very center of the base. About a dozen more of Baal's clan arrived, and they appeared to be in the same plating that the special pair that guarded the book possessed. They also had spears.

"Loona! I only have one more! Make this one count!" Blitzo tossed the grenade launcher onto his hellhound's lap, She was taken aback by the request. However, she was determined to not fuck this one up...again.

She gripped the launcher and aimed high, trying to reach the men in armor.

The projectile sailed through the air, and elusively sliced past the bullets of the armed men.

That's when one of the plated killers threw the spear directly towards the projectile.

It stabbed through, and exploded.

The spear flew back, and was headed for the team.

That's when Loona caught the spear with one arm.

"Aw fuck, you got me in my zone now."

She hopped out, and used the rifle in one hand to shoot towards the five remaining men that held a ranged weapon. Two of them were shot down, but three continued shooting at her. Most of the bullets were deflected by the silver plates. However, about four bullets went through Loona's torso, avoiding any vital organs, but immobilizing the hound, as she howled in pain and rolled out towards another pile, hiding herself from their line of sight.

"LOONA!"

Blitzo hopped out of the debris, and ran swiftly towards them with an AK-47. He aimed the scope, and pulled the trigger. The gun started spitting rounds, but every bullet seemed to miss.

"Gaah! How do you work this fucking thinggggggg!?" Blitzo shouted over the sounds of the gun, still running towards certain death. They continued shooting towards him, and it seemed like they got his leg.

Blitzo flopped and fell to the floor, as the clan members resumed their shooting. However, with the fires raging on from the grenade blast, he was elusive to them behind the smoke and the flames.

He crawled over to the debris where Loona was.

"Goddamnit! Welp, the fuck do we do now? Any more tricks up that skimpy top of yours?"

Loona was panting, still trying to fight the pain that ached throughout her body.

With his comment now being ignored, Blitzo stared into the distance and gulped. This may not end up the way they want to.

Moxxie made his way out of the infirmary, and went into the armory, where he can find a long range weapon that suited him. He was back to where he was a week ago, except this time, he controlled his destiny. He began peaking in and out of lockers, trying to find the perfect weapon to use in his situation. There were a lot of options, and he tried narrowing it down in his head, but every gun did not come without its immense disadvantages.

Once he dug into the back, he found the perfect match.

The .308 Winchester. It was suppressed, which was a major break for Moxxie. He couldn't have found a better gun.

He picked it up along with the box that came along with it, and made his way towards the ladder that lead to the ceiling of the armory. He noticed that there was a major flaw in the formation of the clan combined with the mercenaries.

There was no recon to pick off heads one by one. Moxxie was going to outmatch it by himself, and himself only. He lifted himself up and climbed the ladder, wincing from the pain in his stomach. It was not an easy task to get himself up, but he had to ignore it.

He just wanted to reunite with his team, and most importantly, his wife.

Once he reached the top, he crouched down and crawled his way into the edge of the armory.

That's when he busted out the sniper rifle and looked into the scope. A couple of soldiers shooting through a bunch of rubble. Damn. The I.M.P really did arrive. He zoomed in on the rubble, and with his elevation, he was able to find Loona's ears and Blitzo's horns. He had to bail them out and give them a path to wherever the mercenaries were hiding out.

Moxxie zoomed in over one of the clan's men.

BANG!

The bullet shot through his temple. In an instant, everybody else turned to Moxxie's direction, and began shooting.

What they didn't know is that the snipe did not come from inside the armory, which they were shooting at.

BANG!

He took out another.

BANG!

And another. Three down.

He was aiming for another one. Right before he pulled the trigger, he witnessed his target get impaled by a staff of some kind.

It was Loona. She chucked the weapon and aimed perfectly for the head. Then, the last armed man was swept off his feet by Blitzo, as he swung his staff low and knocked the person over. In the end, he charged his weapon and slammed it down onto his head.

And just like that, the firing squad was finished.

Moxxie grinned, as he saw the bystanders stand in their stationary positions, despite the fall of their armed comrades. It seemed like Baal had plotted for this to happen.

And unfortunately, he saw that the armed dozen were all wearing silver helmets.

Guess he had to make do.

He reloaded, and was prepared to shoot one of them in their open shoulder.

BOOM!

Moxxie was taken aback by the explosion that just happened right behind him. Shrapnel began flying all over the place, and one piece cut into his hip. It was a nasty injury, but Moxxie kept his composure, and let out a slight goan.

He stood up fast and looked around like a madman, trying desperately to find the source of the explosion.

BOOM!

He ducked once again, as the explosion got closer than before.

It came from the watchtower right next to him.

Twig. He carried an RPG by his shoulder.

"You fuck! I watch you die!"

As Moxxie stared back into the bonfire, he turned to his other shoulder. Twig was playing with his can of beans, disgusted by the quality of the food. He threw the can into the fire, and crossed his arms. On the inside, King was absolutely seething from the sight of their food going into the fire, but it was his own fault for offering Twig his leftovers, even when the demo was the one who was strongly against bringing beans to the mission. At this stage, it was a taunting game.

"Hey, you little bitch girl! You need anything else, princess!?"

Twig stared back at his superior and looked back down.

"One day, I will light you all. You all fucking die together."

That's when the mercenary turned to his shoulder and looked back at Moxxie.

"And you. You are worst of them all. You get rocket to face soon enough." He started chuckling, and went back to staring menacingly at the bonfire.

Moxxie shrugged, and continued eating his beans. As he slurped up the bottom half of his can, he looked over and saw that Twig refused to move a muscle.

He snickered. "You seem way too upset for a guy who gets paid by pulling the trigger on things that blow up others to bits."

Twig instantly gave Moxxie a death stare.

"You right. I pull trigger on you. Blow you to bits. Get my money."

As the mercenary popped another projectile into the RPG, Moxxie took a quick glance at the fortifying walls around the armory. One of the walls had connected from the back of the armory to the border of the base. It was a perpendicular pathway to the outside.

The problem was that it was very thin, and was eight feet from the armory.

Moxxie still had his shotgun in the backpack he retrieved from the locker. If he gets close, he can take out Twig and cause the mercenaries to lose the artillery edge. It was most definitely worth a shot.

Moxxie distanced himself from the edge, and took another look at Twig, who was ready to fire. He was also flipping him off, and waved goodbye, almost certain that he was going to kill the imp.

That's when he ran forward. He began building up speed as Twig fired his weapon onto the edge. By a hair, Moxxie launched himself across as the rocket hit the very end of the armory. The blast made Moxxie lose control in mid-air, and sent him flying a little further.

He had landed right on top of the wall, with a little assistance from the failed attempt at his life.

Twig punched his own weapon. "FUCK!"

Moxxie knew he had no time to spare. He picked himself up from the ground, ran further, and began sprinting ahead. The mercenary took note of this and scrambled for the next projectile. Unfortunately for him, he dropped the rocket onto the floor. There was a loud clanking noise.

"No no no no! This not happening!"

He picked up the rocket, and shoved it into the launcher. It clicked. When he turned to see Moxxie's progress, however, he was right there, a couple of yards away from him.

The demon reached behind his back and took out the shotgun. The backpack had already been unzipped, and it was now time to take care of business. As his footsteps got louder, Twig continued to sweat from his forehead. There was a lot of pressure to take.

He lifted the launcher.

"Game over, you fuck! I win!"

The rocket exploded from the launcher, and zoomed through the air. It was going to be a direct hit, as it perfectly lined with Moxxie's chest.

The weapons specialist knew better.

Moxxie lifted himself off the ground and front flipped, as his feet swung back and reached for the sky. The rocket had just barely missed him. Instantly after the rocket had set off and exploded, Moxxie landed on his feet and was now in shooting distance.

"No! No!"

But instead of shooting the mercenary, Moxxie swung his weapon and struck Twig in the face. The demolitions expert fell back and felt immense pain upon the impact of the floor exerted to his head.

Moxxie cocked his gun and aimed for Twig's face.

"You stay down, and tell me where they are."

Twig paused, and smiled.

"You look like-"

It took three words for Moxxie to swing once again with all his strength. The butt of the shotgun nailed Twig in the face, breaking his nose and causing him to wince in pain.

"I'll ask again. Where are they?"

Moxxie was not playing around. He was determined to get answers out of Twig.

"Y-Y-You can't find them! They appear everywhe-"

More bullshit. The imp swung harder this time, breaking one of Twig's front teeth and pushing his nose further to an awkward crooked position.

"What am I, stupid? You know damn well where the fuck they are! SO ANSWER MY MOTHERFUCKING QUESTION, OR I AM GOING TO CRUSH YOUR STUPID SKINNY FUCKING SKULL, BITCH!"

Moxxie was absolutely spazzing out, much like when he was with his team on his first day at the base. The mercenary panted heavily and held his hands out in terror. "Okay! Okay! Listen, yes? They go to the garage right by entrance! They wait there for now!"

"Aah." Moxxie clicked his tongue and put his gun down.

"Congratulations, you don't get a shot blown through your head today."

Twig caught his breath and raised himself upright. "Yes, thank you, thank you!"

"I see you are too good for that."

In an instant, Moxxie turned himself around and swung the shotgun over Twig's head, concussing him. He fell back to the ground, along with Moxxie, who gripped the weapon with two hands and began swinging it back and forth Twig's cheeks. With every swing he took, more blood was drawn. In the first three, the mercenary was a bloody red mess with an absolutely disfigured nose. In the next five, he popped Twig's right eye out, and crushed the frontal region in, exposing the brains. In the next seven, half of the mercenary's skull was crushed in, and there was not a spot of red on his upper body.

And in the last four, his head was completely unrecognizable. It was a pile of flesh and cracked bone. Moxxie panted, and fell back from his most violent kill yet. Shakingly, he held his hands out and saw the splatters of blood all over his hands and his body.

"Bleagh!"

He was disgusted. But after shaking his sleeves to get the blood off, he froze and looked back to his hands. It was not unusual for him to cover himself in the blood of somebody else. He always kept it professional and continued on with his day, chatting it up with his co-workers and sleeping soundly with Millie by his side. This time was different, however. This time, he felt himself slipping away.

He's seen this many times before, back when he took up contract killing after his musical aspirations fell short. It was an emotional time for him, and it didn't stop until the first day he met Millie. Her recruitment to I.M.P gave him purpose, and took him years of development to tie the knot with her.

Inside, he got it together again and decided it was time to stop worrying.

He ran back out and made his way back to the ceiling of the armory. What he just started to realize was that all hell was breaking loose where Loona and Blitzo were.

Loona spat out after a plated knee went straight to her stomach. She and Blitzo were being surrounded by six men each. They tried to stick together and back them away with their weapons, but any effort they could give was futile.

"Damnit! Loonie...don't be scared. We just have to wait for the Deus Ex Machina here." Blitzo nervously laughed as he held his staff close to him.

She turned to her side. "You're so fucking...pathetic…"

Loona continued holding her ground, as men started swinging at her one by one. She deflected their hits over and over. As for Blitzo, he held his arms out and tried to reason with the hound. "Why do you hate me so? What was in that pound that you loved so much?"

She ignored him completely, grunting with every swing of her staff.

He pondered and put his fist under his chin. "Was there a fine piece of ass you had your paws on? A best chum? A mentor of some kind? Whatever it is, what do they have that I don't have?"

"Hey Blitzo, how about you shut the fuck up and TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!?" She growled.

He got scared off and distanced himself, as he held his hands up.

Before he can fully retreat, though, he had to throw one final jab.

"You're crazy if you think I'm not taking this seriously."

She turned around with a murderous look, and dropped her staff.

Blitzo continued. "If anything, you're the one who is not taking this seriously, rookie."

He crossed his arms and smirked.

She hunched like a beast and started foaming at the mouth.

"I dare you to call me that again…"

He walked up to her and his lips came inches from her ear.

"Rookie."

Loona lost her shit.

"AUUUUUGGGHHHHH! CAN'T YOU SEE I'M FUCKING TRYING!?"

She growled and charged towards one of the men, strippimg him of his chest plate and digging into his flesh. Immediately, the others ran for Loona and one even stabbed her through the back.

Then she turned right around. That didn't do anything.

Loona charged forward and pinned another man down. She forced his helmet off his head and took a big chunk of his forehead out, along with the ski mask. He shrieked in severe pain as a few men strategized and proceeded to dive onto her, pinning her down.

That's when Blitzo pointed to the roof of the infirmary.

"NOW!"

It was Millie. She looked rather pissed off and disappointed, and she also held a grenade in her hand as well. Right after the command, Millie pulled the pin out and threw the grenade across.

In an instant, Blitzo pulled Loona's legs from under and got her out of the pile. She was still livid, and responded to her rescue by clawing around and trying to get a jab at the imp.

The men noticed that she had left the pile, and before they even turned around fully…

BOOM!

The blast instantly killed the four men inside, and caused Blitzo, Loona, and the other seven of Baal's men to get sent back. Smoke filled the air, as Millie came in rushing. She still had her axe with her, and came to the aid of her co-workers.

"Blitzo! Loona! You guys alright!?"

She got down and started patting both of their faces separately.

Blitzo was the first to wake up.

"Uggghhh…where am I? Stolas?"

He looked up.

Millie laughed nervously. "Uh, no, sir."

They both turned to face the remaining seven. They were in formation, and were ready to get on the offensive.

That's when out of nowhere, Baal arrived from the smoke and the shadows and put his hands on his back.

"You all had a choice to leave. Now you just fucking murdered my own people like the dogs you are. None of you are leaving."

Millie grabbed the axe that was strapped to her back and took it out. She was not done. She wanted to find her Moxxie.

"You. Is this why you recruited me? Was this just another trick by Stolas?"

They began circling around each other, as Baal maintained his posture.

"No, sweetheart! Of course not! I looked at your credentials, and was amazed at what you were able to do…but when I found out you were from the I.M.P, the company that my client wanted to make sure was buried, we had no choice but to...nullify your application."

She scoffed. "Oh boo fucking hoo. As if I want to fight alongside a bunch of pussies in their amateur ass armor." She glanced at them, and they held onto their formation.

He scoffed mockingly. "And as if I want to hire a sloppy ass contract killer from a sloppy ass contract killing company. Go choke on your bottle, kid."

Blitzo held up his pocket knife, and pointed it to Baal. "Now you listen here, you little sh—"

Suddenly, all of Baal's men held their staffs and pointed to Blitzo, still separated by the confrontation in the center.

Baal walked up to Blitzo and was inches away from his pocket knife.

"You shut your fucking mouth...or my boys will carve ya' a new one."

Blitzo was not even the slightest intimidated. He was fueled by anger, and wanted to step in, but it was impossible.

Baal stared into Millie, and pounded his chest. He raised a staff of his own. A dual set of blades, contrary to a staff.

Millie held her axe close to her, and held her ground. Wielding a heavy weapon against something as light and deadly as two blades was a huge disadvantage.

He charged forward. Millie swung the axe, and missed him. Baal's quick hands tried getting Millie low to her knees, but she spun herself around and moved the axe handle around to block both jabs.

She swung once more, then sent herself back, narrowly avoiding a blade to her heart.

Millie decided to take the defensive side of things. She held her axe out, and was ready to block any of his swings. Right now, Baal was the swarmer. She continued moving back as he got closer and closer. That's when she decided to run up to him and get a good swing at his torso. For some inexplicable reason, he bent himself all the way down and missed the blade, and got a good opening on Millie's legs. He slashed through one of her thighs.

She screamed in agonizing pain, and put her to her wound. There was no time to heal, however. She had to change her strategy.

That's when Millie moved her hands further down the handle. She swung again, and right when she saw the arm come forward, Millie kicked Baal's arm and knocked the blade off his hand. It flew over and nearly landed on Blitzo's head. With quick thinking, he rolled over.

Baal grunted, and threw his blade out of the circle and into the distance on the side.

"GODDAMNIT! You! Give me that!"

He took the staff off of one of his men. Naturally, he complied. Baal grabbed the staff and was ready to rip into Millie.

That's when she kissed her axe and laid it down.

"Blitzo, give me Loona's."

He nodded, and handed it to her from the ground, next to the recovering hound. She still had her eyes open, but was too hurt to get herself up. She felt Blitzo's hand on her back, as she started whimpering.

Millie held the staff. There was now equal ground on their weaponry.

They both charged forward in their own battle cry. Millie turned around and tried to swing the staff low. Baal jumped over the blade and tried to stab it in her from behind. He missed.

She slid and recovered her footing, while Baal landed and turned himself back.

They charged a second time. Millie swung her weapon around and used the other end of the weapon and raised it to him. He blocked it, and tried to shove her away, but she absorbed the block and tried to get a swing at his face. No use.

He laughed. "I gotta give it to ya'. You know your stuff."

She flipped him off, accordingly.

They continued swinging at each other. One would try to get a stab in, while the other would block it. They swung horizontally, vertically, diagonally, and basically any other direction in the X-Y-Z axis. None of their attacks seemed to work. They were evenly matched. Millie kicked him away and tried to swiftly stab him right in the head, but he ducked, spun forward, and got another stab into her hip.

"FUCK!"

She screamed at the top of her lungs, and pushed him away. Now, she was pissed.

Millie stood herself up, and they were back to where they started. He held his weapon up. "Last chance, kid. I don't want to do this."

She smirked in response. "Yeah, me neither."

He charged forward and was ready to stick the staff into her chest. She was waiting on it, and even whispered to herself to watch the blade. He stabbed forward, and Millie used the middle of the handle to block off the staff. That's when she kicked him with all her foce, and caused him to bend over in agony.

Then she literally stabbed him through the back.

He gasped, and stared in silence.

She walked closer to him and whispered in his ear. "You see that? That's how it feels."

Baal got down to his knees, and looked up in rage.

"I'm not fucking done...I'll be back!"

He held his hand out and started rephrasing a ritual of some kind.

Blitzo exclaimed. "Millie, he's gonna go back to Hell! Kill him!"

She noticed this and tried to charge at him again with the staff, but he stuck his other hand out and gripped her with a dark magic of some kind.

"Your attacks won't do shit. I'll see you all back in Hell, and I will alert the—"

Then a blade came swinging through the air and stabbed him through the head.

His expression was blank once again, as the magic from his hand disappeared and dropped Millie down. He fell over to the ground, and laid there in a pool of his own blood. It was safe to say that Baal was dead. Millie gasped, and looked over to the side. Along with everyone else. Blitzo gasped as well, and even Loona stood herself up to see what the commotion was all about. The guards even broke formation and looked.

It was Moxxie. He still had his backpack on, and carried a decorative cutlass of some kind. He stared back at the team, and his jaw dropped wide open. Millie stared back at him, and focused his attention on her. They both took a couple steps forward, with shocked expressions.

Then, at the same time, they both ran towards each other and held their arms out. Moxxie dropped his weapon to the ground, as well as Millie.

They embraced, and tears began streaming down Millie's eyes. Moxxie dug his head into her shoulder, as if he had something shameful to hide from her and the team. That's when he separated from Millie and put his hands to her shoulders, leaving her stunned.

"Millie…"

She sniffed, and tried to wipe the tears out of her eyes. She looked back up and tried desperately to smile, but Millie was still shaken up by the shock. He continued on.

"I...I'm so sorry...I did you so wrong...and I did this company so wrong...and I just…" Moxxie started breaking down in tears and began sobbing. "I don't *sniff* WANT TO LOSE YOUUUU...I CAN'T AFFORD TO LOSE YOU...I CAN'T…"

He fought through an ugly cry to give her the message, but Millie held his head close to her and muffed his cries into her arms.

She hushed him, like she was trying to tame a beast. "There there. You don't have to apologize, you're back home."

Blitzo and Loona looked at each other. While the boss gave her a heartfelt smile, she was reluctant to express any emotion, so she just turned herself back around to the armored men.

"Hey!"

They remained in formation.

"Why aren't you assholes doing anything right now? You've all been sitting there like rocks for hours on end!"

Suddenly, there were footsteps.

It was King. He was still in his green jumpsuit, and had a long machete by his hand. He looked over to the armored men and scowled at them.

"You heard the little lady! Give me answers!"

One of the men marched up and stood straight.

"We cannot continue without the command of our master."

That's when King started punching the air and flipped his lid.

"WHAT!? Your master is fucking dead! He's gonzo! Do you not see his dead fucking body?"

The man was unphased.

"There is another superior."

That's when they were all surrounded by a dark energy of some kind. The energy made a pulsing noise, and started radiating everywhere. A second later, they were all gone, presumably sent to occupy elsewhere.

King looked down and kicked the rubble on the floor, clearly agitated that the numbers were against him now, miraculously.

Moxxie picked up the cutlass and stepped up to King. "And where's your friend?"

The mercenary gritted his teeth and held a fist. "That's none...of your goddamn...BUSINESS!"

He swung a hard one towards him, and was about to connect with Moxxie. However, he narrowly avoided the fist and charged at him.

Moxxie connected with a jab to King's face. Surprisingly, the punch set him back.

The imp looked to Millie, who held her axe high and nodded. She looked to Loona, who nodded, and she held Blitzo's hand, who almost pissed himself in excitement, now that he felt his authority was being respected.

They all stood together. Blitzo had his pocket knife, Millie had her axe, Loona had her staff, and Moxxie had his cutlass.

The I.M.P came face to face with their final challenge.

Moxxie held his wife's hand tight, as they both looked at each other and smiled. He raised the cutlass and pointed to the brute.

"FUCK HIM UP!"

They all yelled in unison and charged at King, who was in a stance of his own with his machete in his hand.

First came Blitzo. He swung and swung the little blade towards the mercenary, who kept his distance and knocked the pocket knife out of his hand. He threw the machete down and tried to get the demon's hand, but Millie dug into his shoulder with the axe. The mercenary yelled, used his meaty hand to grab Mille's face, and pushed her away, hitting her head on a rock and causing her to fumble the axe. Moxxie was furious, and used the cutlass to aim low, then swing high, trying to split his torso. However, King deflected the split with his machete, and poked into Moxxie's arm. He winced, and pushed King away, while trying to get another swing in. Loona assisted and used one end of the staff to slice his cheek first, and the other to cut into his chest. He was distracted, so the wounds on his face and his upper body was a real wake up call. He avoided making any noise this time, and threw the machete at Loona's head. It didn't stick, but it did slice through the side of Loona's ear, causing her to scream, walk off, and get on her knees. She was trying to hold onto the wound as it started bleeding. Moxxie walked back up along with Blitzo. The former went for his temple, while the latter went for the groin (classic Blitzo). King took a hold of the cutlass, slashed Moxxie's shirt open with the machete, and pushed him away with his weapon. Although, he was so preoccupied with the cutlass, that he didn't notice the knife dig into his hip, which wasn't what Blitzo went for, but was alright with him anyway.

The brute got on his knee and squirmed as he pulled out the knife. He threw it behind him and tackled Blitzo down, who tried to swerve around him to retrieve his prized weapon. Then, the mercenary clapped his hands on Blitzo's head and knocked him unconscious. King got up and avoided a jam into his back from Loona's staff. He kicked the staff away from her hands, and slugged her face with a power punch, along with a stab of his machete to her back for safe measure. The hound was down for the count. After a long sequence, Millie was back up to her feet, though she can still feel the effects of taking a rock to her head. She held the axe close again, and signaled for Moxxie to get back up. The couple were reunited together, and glanced at the mercenary. It was time to finish this.

Moxxie rushed at King. The mercenary took a hold of his cutlass-wielding arm, but Moxxie dropped the sword down and caught it with the other, using it to stab into King's abdomen. He spat out blood and fell over, while Millie jumped off her bent-over husband and charged the axe to the floor. She struck down, but King rolled out of it and left her axe stuck in the ground. He pushed her away and took a swing of his machete towards Moxxie's neck. The latter stuck his head back, and tried taking a jab back, but King took a quick hold of him and took him down. He held on to the imp's struggling leg, and smirked.

"Not so fast, piggy."

With all his might, he snapped the leg the other direction and nearly broke it. Moxxie cried out in severe pain. Something was definitely not feeling right.

King got on top of Moxxie and proceeded to punch him across the face, once again putting him in the same situation as when he was in the hospital bed. Millie jumped at the soldier and clawed his face, leaving a long set of bleeding marks that were good enough to make him scream in pain. King responded with a hard elbow to her face, knocking her off and giving her a nosebleed.

Moxxie couldn't let him touch his girl like that.

He reached for the cutlass that was just right there. All it took was a little stretch…

Then King slammed his foot down and kept the demon's arm in place, sending him to a world of hurt.

He took the cutlass and showed it off to Moxxie. "Looking for this?" Then, like the sadist he was, he swung at Moxxie's leg and made a huge laceration through the limb. The demon cried out once again. All of a sudden, his fearful expression changed to one of pure hatred. He tossed himself to his side and used his good leg to kick King in the groin, causing the brute to shriek and fall to the floor.

Then Millie got on top of him, and tried pinning him down, but he was fighting back and began overpowering the muscle of I.M.P. He held both of her wrists, and gritted his teeth as he was getting ready to screw her hands loose.

That's when Moxxie lunged at his head, and took him down.

Moxxie looked over his shoulder and instructed Millie. "DO IT!"

She pulled the axe off the ground, started spinning as she struggled to carry it, and dropped it on King's leg, making a deep cut into his limb. The soldier shrieked once more, and began sobbing as the overwhelming pain rammed into his brain.

Moxxie got off of King's head and walked over to the axe.

He put a hand on it, and so did Millie. They both looked together and nodded.

They both raised the axe at the same time, and swung it down to King's chest. Suddenly, the screams were silenced, and the mercenary's struggling arms were overtaken by gravity. The life in his eyes had left.

The King has died.

Moxxie and Millie fell to the ground and began panting. Millie looked over to Moxxie, and jumped in for a kiss. They both closed their eyes and continued on with their moment.

Then they heard more footsteps.

It was Dr. Smith and Midnight.

Their lips departed, and they instantly made a full 360 and drew the axe, pointing it to their necks.

Dr. Smith held his hands out. "Woah, woah. Don't worry, Moxxie. It's just us."

Midnight had his jumpsuit ripped off as his chest was exposed, and even had blood streaming from his nose. It looked like he took a beating.

Moxxie lowered the axe, but Millie held the handle with two hands. He tried to step forward, but stumbled. The doctor and the soldier quickly bent down to grab him and carry him to his feet. The cut in his leg was preventing him from using his full strength.

Dr. Smith looked at Midnight, who nodded. The doctor let go of Moxxie, and let the soldier carry him with a singular effort. He stepped up to Millie and put his hand on the axe, slowly lowering it.

"So this is the Millie I keep hearing about…"

He stuck his hand out.

"Nice to meet you."

She stared at the man with a look of aggressive confusion, and slowly reached for his hand.

And she did. They both shared a handshake.

"Same here."

Dr. Smith stepped over to Blitzo and Loona. He took a good look at them, and put his hand on his chin, looking to the night sky and thinking about something. Finally, he agreed with his inner self, and stuck his hand out to them. He proceeded to widen his fingers. What happened next made Moxxie and Millie look dumbfounded, while Midnight continued looking on.

The doctor raised the two off their feet, and put them in regeneration. Their wounds were being covered by developing flesh of their own, and were healing at a very fast rate. He even cleaned the dust off their battle-torn bodies. Suddenly, both Blitzo and Loona slowly opened their eyes. They were surprised to see the human male holding them both through thin air. Dr. Smith dropped them to their feet, as they landed awkwardly.

Moxxie got himself out of Midnight's arms, and walked over to the doctor.

"H-H-How did you do that?" He pointed to his co-workers in sheer disbelief.

Dr. Smith smiled, but his grin was replaced with sharp pointy teeth, instead of the ordinary human teeth he once possessed.

"My boy, I can do it all. You see, this espionage mission was merely one in a dozen business decisions I made this past week. When I found out what that feathered bastard Stolas was doing to retrieve his servants, I was furious! My power over the territory had been at stake. So, I briefly worked my way up the ranks and arrived here."

Moxxie was shook. "Y-Y-You mean...you're from Hell too?"

He nodded. "Oh yes! I know a thing or two about power, my fine imp. Now that my mission is complete, I must get going. I've been getting an earful about an Archduke digging an entire city underground! A flipping city! Can't you believe it? Come on, my friend. Let's go." He signaled for the disguised soldier to follow him.

The mysterious figure disguised as Midnight walked on, and stopped. He turned to Moxxie and nodded.

"Thank you."

He continued walking to the supposed doctor, and stopped by his side. A fiery portal to the depths of Hell opened right in front of them.

That's when Moxxie stuck his hand out.

"Wait!"

The 'doctor' turned around. "Hm?"

"What's your name!? I must know…"

The departing doctor smirked and turned back around.

"I guess you can call me...Lucy…"

Moxxie gasped, along with Millie, and even Loona. The two walked towards the portal, and in a second, they were completely gone, leaving the I.M.P in a ravaged battlefield in an undisclosed location on Earth.

Blitzo paused, then snapped his fingers. "Aha! That fucker's name is Lucy! That's short for Lucif-"

Moxxie held his hand up, and saddened Blitzo with his interruption. Loona facepalmed, and Millie let out a short giggle. The weapon's specialist cleared his throat, and looked into his boss' eyes.

"It's good to see you again, sir."

Blitzo smiled. Moxxie pointed to the hound.

"And yes! It's good to see you again, Loona."

She grinned. "Hey Mox, don't go sit on a dick on the way back, will ya'?"

They all laughed in unison, as Blitzo walked over to the dusted book on the ground.

"Ughhhhh…"

Moxxie held the cast on his leg as he laid on the bed. He was dressed in his oversized grey sweater, along with his oversized blue pajama pants. Millie sat by his side and stroked his hair. It had been a full day since he was rescued, and he had a lot of questions. The first being what became of Stolas' castle, in which Blitzo replied that the "feathered bastard got what he deserved, and his wife was neglectful the entire time." The second being what the fuck happened to his house. It went from being their clean little shithole of a house to just being a shithole in a shithole house. Millie miraculously quit smoking, but she wasn't too keen on throwing out the 12 packs she filled the fridge with. Moxxie was not too happy about it. As for Millie, she was back to wearing her signature overalls. Moxxie took another look at the rest of the room. There were still a couple of cigarettes and bottles left on the floor. His nightstand had become Millie's personal ashtray, and the sheets absolutely reeked of tobacco and...a way too familiar scent that had something to do with Millie.

"Seriously, Mills...what the fuck…"

She shrugged. "Hey, you would have done the same if I went missing for over three days, right Mox?"

He sighed. "I guess so. I would have stuck with weed though."

She clicked her tongue. "Ah, so now I know for next time."

Moxxie rolled his eyes and chuckled.

RING RING!

It was the doorbell.

Moxxie groaned. He struggled to get out of the bed, and got himself up. Millie followed him, and held her hands out in case he fell over like he did three times yesterday.

They arrived. She opened the front door, and the visitor threw Moxxie off.

He rubbed his eyes and tried to make sense of what was in front of him.

"Blitzo?"

The boss was no longer in his work attire. He adapted a casual look with a black coat and a red scarf. It was snowing outside, and he rubbed his arm a little to indicate something.

"Hey Mox…"

Moxxie looked over Blitzo's shoulder, and saw Loona standing from a distance. She had her own earmuffs, winter hat, scarf, and jacket, but she was shaking in the freezing cold.

The recovering imp looked up.

"Hey Blitzo. I didn't expect to ever hear you ring my doorbell, let alone see you use the front door this time."

The towering demon scratched his head and laughed off the tease. "Heh heh, yeah. Look, Mox, I could have easily climbed into your living room window out there. It's open at this time for whatever reason."

Moxxie raised an eyebrow. "We only have one open window. That one is located in the back of the house."

Blitzo sighed.

"Look, me and the Loon' just wanted to check up on you guys. You know, see if everything is going well."

Moxxie looked at Millie, and looked back at Blitzo. "Yeeeahh...things have been peachy."

Blitzo wiped his dry forehead and took a deep sigh. "Phew! That's a relief! Well, I'll see you too at work later this week! Ciao!" He proceeded to put his hands into his pockets and walk back down to the street.

Moxxie looked at Millie one more time. She was looking at him idly, but he knew more than enough. He turned around and waved his hand.

"Wait, Blitzo! Stop!"

The boss stopped in his tracks, and turned his head.

"Huh?"

Moxxie walked out of the doorway and towards Blitzo. "Look, you all helped me at my most desperate time and bailed me out even when the company was gone."

Blitzo gasped and cupped his hands together.

"Mox...what are you trying to say?"

The homeowner sighed.

"You two are welcome to enter our house."

Loona's eyes widened, and Blitzo paused in complete shock, as if someone pulled his brain out of his head.

Then, he started jumping up and down in excitement and began hugging Moxxie.

"OH THANK YOU! THANK YOU! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW LONG I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!"

Moxxie held Blitzo and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Just behave, alright? You too, Loona."

The three went into the entrance, and Millie smiled as she saw the sight of Moxxie once again, waving back at her with an optimistic smile. It was that smile that Millie fought long and hard for. The stabs she took, the beatdowns she ate, and the emotional pain she went through. It was all worth it just to see her Moxxie smile once again.

Not too bad, if she'd say so herself.


End file.
